Time Changes All Things
by ssdawning
Summary: Hermione travels back in time to seek revenge on Voldemort.As Tom Riddle pursues her, and Hermione's power grows, will her plans change to destroy Riddle? Will Tom change her and the bigger question is...will she like the dark side? Only time will tell.
1. Chapter 1: So Cold

Time Changes All Things

By ssdawn

Chapter One: So Cold

1998

Hermione knelt down on the cold, snow covered ground. She felt the moisture from the snow soak into her jeans. Her arms were wrapped around the headstone of her best friend.

As the tears fell down her face, the name on the headstone became blurred. It didn't matter; she knew what was written there:

"Here lies one of the bravest wizards ever known,

The Savior of the wizarding world

Harry James Potter"

1980-1998

As Hermione leaned her cheek on the hard, chilled stone, she promised herself something, she wasn't going to keep blaming herself for Harry's death. They all knew the dangers. They all knew the possible horrors of facing Voldemort.

But it had all happened so fast; Ron fighting Dolohov, Hermione battling Bellatrix and Harry clashing with Voldemort. As soon as Ron fell from Dolohov's curse, a distraught Hermione lost concentration and was struck with a slicing hex to her arm. Not being able to hold off Bellatrix, Hermione retreated.

So Harry, as he had always feared, had to face Voldemort all on his own. From afar, Hermione watched it all unfold like a bad dream in slow motion. Harry would hurl a curse at Voldemort who instantly threw up a shielding charm, while sending a curse back towards Harry. Hermione knew that Harry would only last for so long before he would collapse from exhaustion.

Looking around at the smoke and stink from the fighting, Hermione leaned against a tree trunk holding her injured arm. She needed to go help Harry, but she felt frozen and useless.

One wild shake from Voldemort's wand and Harry fell to his knees in pain, but miraculously holding on to his wand. Looking around the battlefield, Order members and Death Eaters alike stopped, as if in a trance, to watch the fight between The Boy Who Lived and the most evil and powerful wizard of His time. Eyes never leaving the other, the sneer from Voldemort would always remain with those watching, for at that moment the end came. Harry shouted something as he cast a final curse towards his long-time enemy and Voldemort shouted back hurling his final curse. Hermione saw one flash of bright red and green light and both wizards lay dead. No one knew what had really happened that day.

Hermione remembered running to Harry, tripping on Ron's dead body on the way. Flinging herself to the ground she fell prostrate on Harry's body. "No Harry! No! Please, please…."Hermione rocked back and forth holding Harry's limp form in her arms. The screams coming from her throat were an inhuman sound.

Hermione vowed that day, as she held her best friend in her arms, that she would exact revenge in his honor.

Now standing on shaky legs, long since numb, she headed off for an unknown journey. As she took each step; she heard the crunch of the frozen snow underneath her feet. Each footstep took her towards her destiny, and not one of her choosing. She knew what she had to do and that it was illegal; but it needed to be done.

Hermione knew where the easiest place would be to snatch what she needed. Throwing Harry's invisibility cloak around her, she put a silencing charm on her feet. As she opened the huge door leading into Hogwarts many painful memories surfaced. To think that she, former Head girl and prefect, was on her way to steal from the Headmistress.

From spies within the school, she knew the password into McGonagall's office, "toasted crumpets"; and up the spiraling staircase she went. Focusing on one goal, "Steady on Hermione", she told herself, "He must be stopped!"

Stuffing the invisibility cloak in her pocket, Hermione found the glass case and quickly opened it with several unlocking charms. As she grasped what she had come for, her hand trembled. It still looked the same from when she had used it her third year, the Time Turner.

The tiny sparkling hourglass was still hanging from an old chain Hermione's Grandmother had given her. She put the chain around her neck trying to calm her rattled nerves. Hermione wasn't even sure that this would work. She had never attempted to travel this far back in time before. From all of her research, she had discovered others had done it using a certain incantation. The only problem was most were never able to travel back from the time period they had started from. She didn't let this worry or stop her. Nothing was left for her here in the present.

As she started to chant the words of the spell," Causa aliqua bonusque corde redeam "she turned the hourglass the calculated number of times required, the door was suddenly flung open.

"Miss Granger, what are you doing?" Professor McGonagall gasped as she saw the Time Turner around Hermione's neck and heard the words that Hermione was chanting.

"You can't do this! Stop immediately!" said Professor McGonagall, red faced. Hermione just shook her head no and continued with the spell.

Maybe it was the distraction from Professor McGonagall that caused her to turn the hourglass one too many times.

Hermione felt the sensation of flying, very fast, backward. The blurs of colors and shapes rushing past made Hermione feel sick.

As the rushing stopped, she fell back against the wall and slid down to the ground. Looking around she realized that she was still at Hogwarts, but what year? A hand reached out to pull her up.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked, feeling a strange sense of knowing the tall boy who was holding her hand.

"I should be asking you that question; considering I am Head Boy. I am Tom Riddle."

Hermione tried not to react, but at that moment she knew the game had just started; only not the one she had been planning on playing.


	2. Chapter 2: Hmmm, who am I?

Chapter two: Hmmm who am I?

Staring into dark blue eyes and noticing the wavy brown hair, the realization almost struck Hermione funny: Tom Riddle was one of the most handsome men that she had ever seen! Clearing her head she had to remember who this "handsome" boy would become.

Damn! Professor McGonagall had messed up her perfect plan. Hermione had figured on traveling to the time of the Marauders to stop Voldemort; before he even had a chance to kill the Potters. Hermione had thought she would at least be comfortable with the Marauders, even though they would be much younger. She had heard enough from Remus and Sirius to know what had happened to cause James and Lily's death. She also knew what Voldemort would be doing during this period. Everything was pretty much planned out in her mind. Hermione had actually written out a detailed agenda, which now of course was memorized, of how she would accomplish destroying Voldemort. Now, she had the one person standing in front of her she wasn't ready to face yet.

Even at this point in time Riddle exuded such power and command. Hermione could tell that he wasn't a wizard that would be easily crossed.

"I asked you Miss…" dropping Hermione's hand, "Who are you and why are you here at Hogwarts?" His demanding voice resonated through the hallway as Hermione tried to think of an adequate answer to give the insistent Head Boy.

"I'm here to speak to Professor Dumbledore. You see he is my ...cousin." Hermione flinched inside. That was all that she could come up with? Looking at Tom she could see him rolling this declaration of Hermione's through his mind. His brows were knitted together and a menacing scowl decorated his face.

"You, are Dumbledore's cousin? Aren't you a little young to be his cousin?" Riddle looked at her like she was a troll with three heads. His eyes were fixed on Hermione and waiting for an answer.

Hermione knew that this boy, almost a man, wasn't the average dunderhead, like most his age. She would always have to be careful what she said around Riddle. The biggest problem was that she couldn't think of a logical answer to give the wizard next to her; even though her whole scheme depended upon said answer. How do you deceive the biggest manipulator that the wizarding world ever dealt with? Hermione was known for her logic, not being insidious.

"I am actually a third cousin from his Father's, Mother's side. I am transferring here to finish my seventh year."

Hermione gulped realizing that she was only digging the hole she was in, deeper. She tried to show some confidence as her story bubbled out of her mouth. It would have been better if real bubbles had been coming out of her mouth. She needed something to distract Tom from her doltish story. Now would be a good time to be a raving beauty with a drop dead figure. Her one great asset, her brain, seemed to have been left behind in 1998.

As she stood there, the reality of the time period crossed her mind. After reading Hogwarts a Historythree or four dozen times, she knew that the year now was 1944. If things had to have gone wrong, this was a good year to end up in. At least Tom Riddle was not yet, Lord Voldemort, and didn't have the large legions of death eaters behind him; yet.

Shifting the game plan in her mind, she knew she had to try to do either one of two things, try to turn Tom away from his evil path or destroy him before he became too powerful. Hermione knew her wizarding history well enough that idea number one would be fruitless. According to history, Tom Riddle was well on his way in his seventh year to becoming The Dark Lord. He had already formed the early stages of his death eaters with a group he called, "The Knights of Walpurgis".

So, that left the second possible solution, which was the outlined plan for the Marauders time. Hermione had to find people to form an alliance with; now that there were no Marauders yet to work with. The plans were still in place to find out as much as she could about the Horcruxes. At this point, most of them probably hadn't even been made yet. Who would she be able to trust here? She wanted her revenge on Voldemort and she wanted to give her best friends a chance to live and grow old. There was only this strange kink in the plan, having to do away with the handsome Tom Riddle instead of the vile Lord Voldemort. You would think that this would make the whole design easier to carry out.

"Will you please take me to see Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione tried not to stare too long at Riddle. She didn't want to give any of her feelings away. Harry and Ron had always told her that her eyes were an open book to her soul….well that's not exactly how they had said it.

Hermione recalled:

_Harry said, "You give too much away with your eyes. "_

_Ron agreed, "I can always tell when you are worked up about something I have said. You have very angry eyes."_

_Then they both had just laughed at her_.

Hermione tried to hold back the tears; she didn't want to show any weakness in front of Riddle. If there was anyone alive in the year 1944 who would take a person's weakness and use it against them, it would be Tom Riddle. Hermione knew that he was suspicious and not truly buying Hermione's story. But maybe he just always looked like this, very serious and ready to take your head off. Yes, she could believe that thought. After all, he didn't become an evil bastard in one day, it happened throughout the years.

With pursed lips, Riddle turned on his heels and proceeded down the hallway. He even walked like he knew he already ruled the wizarding world. Let's see, pompous, arrogant, and narcissistic; the list was very long to describe Riddle. Yes, one more word, charismatic; damn!

Stopping and turning around he inquired, "Are you coming or not?" Hermione coming out of her daze shook her head and gave a weak smile, "Oh, yes, thank you."

Now, what to tell Professor Dumbledore when he was told his long lost cousin was here.


	3. Chapter 3:Game On

Chapter 3: Game On

Professor Dumbledore's office, as transfiguration teacher, was much smaller than the one he would eventually reside in as Headmaster. He still had the many gadgets scattered around the room. His eyes were still the sky-blue twinkling variety. Hermione wasn't taken aback at all when she heard a muggle coo-coo clock go off.

The room was silent as Professor Dumbledore looked at Hermione, Riddle looked at Dumbledore, Hermione looked at Riddle, and Riddle looked at Hermione and on it went. No one saying a word, just waiting for someone to speak first. Suddenly she felt the harsh pressing of someone trying to invade her mind. Quickly looking away, Hermione used her Occlumency, blocking her mind to the invader. But who was it? It could have been either Professor Dumbledore or Riddle, both skilled Legilimens. Now was not the time for her secrets to be spilled.

Hermione could feel Tom Riddle's eyes boring holes into her.

"Now Miss…" the wise old wizard began as he attempted to catch her gaze. "What did you say your name is?"

"Hermione…MacMillan, Professor. We are third cousins on your Father's, Mother's side. "

Hermione noticed Professor Dumbledore looking at her narrowly, and then his eyes flicked over to Riddle. Tom, hiding his feelings, sat stone cold staring at Dumbledore. Hermione could see that there was no love lost between these two wizards; in fact, there was outright animosity as Tom sat there with clenched jaws.

With a pleading voice Hermione asked, "Professor, may I speak to you privately?" as she glanced over at Riddle. Tom stared back at Hermione with a smirk one would usually see on a Malfoy. Standing quickly, and high-handedly puffing out his chest, Tom Riddle excused himself.

"I have other duties to attend to. I am sure that I will be seeing you around Hermione. "Chills went through Hermione as she heard Tom Riddle speak her name so menacingly. He turned, but not before Hermione smiled, "Tom, I really appreciate your help", she said in an overly sweet voice. "Thank you." With a nod of his head, Riddle left Dumbledore's office.

With the click of the door shutting Hermione was able to breathe normally again.

"Now Miss Hermione…MacMillan," Dumbledore with exasperation in his voice spoke, "would you like to tell me what is really going on? Who are you and why are you here at Hogwarts?" Hermione, fidgeting in her seat, was trying to decide how much to tell Dumbledore.

Dumbledore matter of factly proclaimed, "I know Miss MacMillan that we are not related." Hermione nervously bit her lip as Dumbledore waited impatiently for an answer.

"Professor Dumbledore, "Hermione implored with assuredness, "I never came here with the intention of outright deceiving you. But I must ask you to please help me and go along with my story." Hermione implored.

Exhaling loudly Dumbledore answered, "Miss MacMillan, if you want my assistance then you must allow me to hear all of the details about you…"

Hermione, with a booming voice and tears starting to form in her eyes, jumped out of her seat and leaned her hands on Dumbledore's desk, "Sir, I cannot do that! Please just trust me!"

Dumbledore blaringly answered back, "How can I trust you young lady when I don't even know you! You are asking too much from me," as he now vaulted out of his seat.

Feeling exasperated, Hermione took a deep breath, "I am here to do something very important. What I do or don't do will affect the future of the Wizarding World. "Hermione flounced back into the chair folding her arms in front of her.

Dumbledore remained silent, suppressing his anger, as Hermione struggled to explain herself.

"I know that there is someone here at Hogwarts," Hermione exaggerated each word with a nod of her head," a student, who will become one of the most evil wizards of all time."

Dumbledore arched an eyebrow and smirked before saying, "This is not something that I am unaware of. In fact, Miss MacMillan, I have a feeling I know who you are referring to." Dumbledore speaking almost jovially voiced." My question for you is how do you intend to deal with this problem or should I say Wizard?"

"Can we discuss details now Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked with a half smile.

Professor Dumbledore, giving Hermione a wink, nodded his head, "Let's."

Two weeks later

Hermione sat curled up with her Arithmancy textbook in the Slytherin common room. Bursting through the doors, accompanied by the sound of laughter, came the cream of the crop that the house of Slytherin had to offer. Sauntering in at the helm of this group was Tom Marvolo Riddle.

He marched over to Hermione and stood in front of her waiting for her acknowledgement. When Hermione did not look up, he sat down heavily, next to her on the couch. He lifted her legs and limply set them down in his lap. Hermione tilted her head up. Trying to show no emotion on her face she asked, "Do you need something Riddle?"

Tom smoothly asked, "Can't I just sit down with the pretty new girl to get to know her better?"

Tom almost had a meek look on his normally intense face. Around him, Tom's followers had settled in. They consisted of wizards and witches Hermione had only read about, Abraxas Malfoy, Casper Crouch, Lucretia Black, Alphard Black, and Radbourne Lestrange.

"She looks like she has the same problem you have Tom, she loves to study," Alphard laughed teasingly.

As if taking offense Tom exclaimed, "What is wrong with that? I like an intelligent woman." Tom stared at Hermione to see if his words had any effect on her.

Hermione looked up, "What were you saying?" trying to look nonchalant and uninterested. She knew her behavior would either anger Tom or make him even more determined to win her over.

Lucretia giggled and batted her eyelashes, "She's not falling for your charms Tom, not like the rest of the girls that inhabit Hogwarts."

The bristly look on Tom's face showed that he did not like being provoked, even by his devoted admirers.

Tom, nose flaring and fists clenched belted out, "Why don't you lot bugger off so Hermione and I can talk."

They all knew that this was a command and not a request.

Abraxas leapt up sensing the hazard in annoying Tom any further, "We will be in Alphard's room if you need us," and Abraxas grabbed Lucretia's hand.

Alphard bowed, "Good day to you fair maiden Hermione. "Taking Hermione's hand in his he kissed it lightly, and strolled away.

Hermione smiled pleasantly at them and turned to peek at Tom. He reached over languishingly and shut her book she had been reading.

"Hey, I was studying!" Hermione acted put out.

Tom, with mischief in his eyes, scooted closer, "I think that you need to study something else, like maybe me at the moment."

Hermione wasn't sure what to think about this strange turn of events. With Tom's arm casually laced around the back of the couch, Hermione turned to face him.

Gods, why did he have to be so dashing; the dark wavy hair, deep blue eyes, fine chiseled bone structure and a thick muscular chest. Tom gave a small, winning smile when he saw Hermione scanning his features.

"Do you like what you see?" the magnetic wizard asked, knowing full well that Hermione did.

Hermione flushed red and boldly said, "What if I say I do?"

Tom leaned even closer until they were nose to nose, "That would please me immensely", he whispered. Reaching out he ran his fingers over Hermione's lips. She was tingling with delight at Tom's touch. This not only scared her, but flattered her that someone as good looking as Tom Riddle was showing interest in her.

The little voice in the back of her mind was reminding her why she had traveled back in time. She was realizing it was getting easier and easier to push that little voice somewhere else when Tom was around. What was he doing to her in such a short time?

"Would you like to go for a walk around the lake Hermione?" Tom congenially asked with a pleasant grin on his face.

Intrigued, and with sparkling eyes directed to Tom, Hermione said, "Yes, that would be pleasant."

Soon the two were walking arm in arm around the lake on a beautiful autumn afternoon. Occasionally glancing at each other, Hermione would shyly look down. Sending a small grin Tom's way, Hermione was trying to sort out the happenings of the past two weeks. As per plan that Hermione and Dumbledore devised, Hermione was sorted "privately" in to Slytherin. Keeping an eye on Tom and his ever present audience was Hermione's number one job at the moment. Little did she know that the great Tom Riddle would start having an extreme fascination for the new girl? Hermione playing indifferent to it all seemed to fuel the fire in Tom and his trying to get Hermione's attention. Now that he had her on his own, Hermione was curious as to what Tom was wanting from her. Rarely did Tom do something that didn't have a secret agenda.

Tom was suddenly stopping, gathered Hermione's fingers and lifted them gently to his mouth. He lightly nibbled on each finger on her hand. "I have to be honest with you Hermione," he said with intensity, "I have never met a witch, our age, which exuded so much knowledge and power as you do."

So that's what this was all about! He had noticed her in their classes together. Hermione, being Hermione, couldn't help being the know it all she had always been accused of. She should have known that this part of her character would be the one thing Tom would be the most attracted to.

"Hermione," Tom animatedly spoke, "you know spells that someone your age shouldn't know."

She smiled up at him, "You know the same spells as I do, "she elbowed him in the side. He swung her around in his well-set arms and pushed her back up against a tree facing her. He placed his arms solidly around her waist.

"You know as well as I do that knowledge is power. Power is needed to run the world. It pleases me seeing this power in you." Tom's eyes were almost blazing as he spoke these words to Hermione.

"I've never wanted power Tom;" Hermione soberly shared, "Knowledge to me is a gift. It lifts me up."She looked at him to see if anything she said was sinking into Tom's mind.

With more forcefulness in his voice Tom continued, "But Hermione, we are talking about the same thing, being elevated above others because of our intelligence." Tom's face was illuminating with excitement." We are almost equals when it comes to our brilliance; you are very close."

Tom reached up to play with Hermione's hair, tucking a stray curl behind her ear and trailing his fingers along the side of her face.

Tom held Hermione's face perfectly still in his hands, "This is why I want you by my side, along with my other followers. I need you! I need your wisdom, discernment and lust for knowledge and reasoning." Hermione listened closely, and for a few tension filled moments, Hermione did not let her eyes stray from Tom's.

Enunciating each word sharply, he moved in even closer, "I have chosen you. I hope that you won't take this lightly, that would be a mistake."

With those words said, Tom Riddle leaned into Hermione fully and kissed her for the first time. Hermione loved the feel of his lips on hers. His lips demanded an answer back and started an unexpected fire in her. Hermione reached up and put her hands in Tom's silky hair, stroking him, as the kiss became more urgent. Nothing could compare to the moment she was experiencing right now. The physical power of his body, this close, overwhelmed any other thoughts of power and knowledge.

But she also knew that Tom had upped the ante in the game they were playing.


	4. Chapter 4: Meet the Knights

Chapter 4: Meet the Knights

Professor Dumbledore resoundingly cleared his voice and called out, "Miss MacMillan, will you please stay after class for a moment?" Hermione looked over at Tom who looked suspiciously at Dumbledore. Under hooded eyebrows, he nodded at Hermione, squeezed her hand and with one last glance left the classroom. Hermione hugging her books, walked up to the front of the room.

"What do you need Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked abruptly. Professor Dumbledore in a worried voice and concern on his face said, "Hermione, I implore you to show caution in your relationship with Tom. He is very powerful and convincing." Hermione sat down in a chair with her legs crossed and her foot tapping in mid-air. The knitted eyebrows Dumbledore wore expressed fully the apprehension concerning Hermione fraternizing with Tom and his friends. "Before you know it he has pulled you into his evil."

Hermione, with a nervous laugh quickly retorted back, "Don't you think I can handle things?"

Trying to be kind, but firm, Dumbledore went on, "Frankly my dear I don't think you know who or what you are dealing with."

Hermione, quickly standing, stubbornly rejected this notion, "I do understand Professor. I have seen his evil firsthand. I saw him kill my best friend. I haven't forgotten that!" Hermione could feel that her face was beet red. How dare he accuse her of not understanding what was going on. "Professor, I am smart; as you have told me before. I am a good person and I will do the right thing." Hermione briskly turned her back to Dumbledore and walked away.

As she was leaving, Dumbledore spoke quietly, "It doesn't take long for a halo to turn into a noose."

Hermione, stopping for a moment with a pained look on her face, let his words flood her heart. Taking one last glance at Dumbledore, who was solemnly staring back at her, she couldn't help but glare as she left the classroom.

As soon as the door shut, Hermione felt two strong arms encircle her from behind and rope around her waist. Tom leaned his head over Hermione's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "What did the old fool want, love?"

Hermione turned in Tom's arms, "He was warning me about the evil wizard that I have been spending time with."

Tom dipped down, gave Hermione a hard and long kiss. "Did you tell him you didn't need nor want his advice?" Tom asked sarcastically.

Hermione giving a slight giggle voiced, "I told him I am a big girl and can handle things." Wagging her eyebrows and winking at Tom, she stated in a provocative voice, "You know you haven't been that bad so far."

Tom growled and dove in for another, lengthy kiss; then trailed kisses down Hermione's neck. "Oh Tom, I…" but before she could say any more, he had once again crushed Hermione's lips in a bruising kiss.

Tom's hand leisurely moved up Hermione's hip, then to her waist until his hand cupped her breast. Giving a hard squeeze, he pinched her nipple harshly. Hermione jerked back, "That hurt Tom!" Pulling Hermione back into his embrace, he reassured her, "You will start to enjoy everything I do to you."

Hermione's face was full of misgiving. Tom rubbed up against her so she would feel his erection. He knew that doing these things unsettled Hermione and right now he wanted to show her who was in charge. Hermione was not naïve about this fact, but was trying with all of her heart to grow "close" to Tom. She knew that they both were playing games, but how far would she go to win?

"What are you thinking about Hermione?" asked Tom as he moved his hands up and down Hermione's back. Smiling, she reached up to pull Tom's head back down to hers. Slowly, but firmly, her lips pressed against Tom's as she slid her tongue into his mouth; hearing him groan he pulled her even closer.

"Tonight is the night Hermione." Pulling back again, she questioned Tom, "The night for what Tom?" Did he want what she thought he did? Was she ready to have sex with him yet? She chastised herself for even attaching the word "yet" to that thought.

Gripping her arms firmly and giving her a small shake, Tom spat out in a biting tone, "Hermione listen to me, this is important. I need to show you something tonight of great significance to me." The severe look on Tom's face made Hermione realize she might not like what he wanted her to see. "It is time I show you who I am and who I want you to become."

Biting her lips fretfully Hermione whispered, "You are really making me nervous Tom." Throwing his head back and giving a cold laugh, Tom told Hermione, "I like to do that to people. But you are in my good graces, so you have nothing to worry about." Hermione tried to give Tom a small grin, but was still filled with great apprehension. "It's not the case for others who have forgotten their place," Tom said with narrowed eyes. Taking Hermione's hand in his, he led her down the hallway with Hermione struggling to keep up with his long-legged pace.

Later that night

The knocking on the door woke Hermione from a deep sleep. She had taken a nap after Tom had said they would be up very late that night. "Come in," she mumbled in a slurred voice. The door opened and in walked Tom wearing a plain, black robe. The only thing on the robe was a patch with a large "KW" on the left side of the robe. The "KW" was woven with green and silver thread and was made of two intertwining snakes. In his arms he held another black robe.

Tom came over and sat down on the bed beside her. Reaching out to Hermione he pulled her body against his. He leaned in to smell her orchid scented hair, inhaling deeply. The sweet smell of Hermione filled Tom with passion and lust. Shaking his head back and forth slightly his lips grazed her neck, his hair tickling her, and giving her goose bumps. His powerful arms held her tight making her senses swirl.

Laying her down, he covered her tiny frame with his large, muscular one. She moaned with delight as she welcomed his body against hers. It felt good melting into his embrace. Hermione could feel his rigid hardness thrusting into her thigh.

She opened her legs even wider drawing him even closer to her core. Tom slid his hands down her firm breasts, and over her stomach feeling each curve until his hand rested on her mound. Every movement from Tom only made Hermione want to be more intimate with him. Tom's fingers swirled in a circular motion around her slick folds, grazing her clit and reducing her breathing to soft pants. Hermione bumped her pelvis up to meet Tom's fluid motions in search of some kind of release.

Breaking away from Hermione, Tom swiftly sat up trying to gain his composure. Hermione lay on the bed trying to catch her breath and clenching her thighs together to stop the ache. "I wish that we had all night to spend here in your bed, that will have to wait until another time, but I can assure you that it will happen," Tom said as his hands ran one more time on the inside of her thigh. "We need to meet my Knights right now," Tom spoke with shallow breath.

Sitting up and putting her hand on his arm, Hermione tried to sound surprised and curious, "Your Knights Tom?" Giving her arse a squeeze he stood, "Yes Hermione, you will learn all about them tonight." Tom handed Hermione the black robe and instructed, "Take off your school robe and put this one on."

Hermione saw that the robe Tom handed her was identical to the robe he was wearing. As she took off her school robe and donned the new robe, Tom's eyes never left Hermione's. The desirable, glazed look he gave Hermione showed he wished she were taking more than the robe off.

His eyes trailed up and down her body making Hermione want to jump back into his arms. Tom cast a Disillusionment charm on Hermione and on himself. Hermione shivered as she felt the spell wash over her body like a cold shower. She felt Tom clutch her hand and they left Hermione's room.

He led then deeper into the Slytherin dungeons. They walked until they came to a dead end where Tom held up his hand and uttered something in parseltongue and the wall disappeared. Clasping Hermione's hand, he led her into the dark tunnel; while Hermione chewed on her lip, as she hated dark places.

Uttering "Lumos," his wand became the only light. Hermione shivered at the cool, damp enclosure that they were making their way through. The further they went, the more Hermione's anxiousness increased. Here she was being led to who knows where by the man she had come back in time to eradicate. She knew what he could to do her if he chose. Feeling this way only made Hermione bite her lip even harder until she tasted her own blood.

Stopping so suddenly that Hermione slammed roughly into Tom's back, he whipped around, "I can sense your foreboding Hermione, stifle it now." Tom, incensed, seemed to pulsate with heat. "I will not have my followers see the woman I have chosen as a scared rabbit!" But that is exactly how Hermione felt; she was the cornered rabbit and Tom was the fox coming in for the kill.

Hermione whimpered, "I'm sorry Tom." Violently pushing Hermione against the moist, chilled wall, he pressed into her sharply. Bringing his wand up to her face and grinding it into her cheek, with gritted teeth he shouted out, "I do not want to ever hear you say you are sorry again! I am never sorry about anything I do. You will do the same."

Hermione could see the veins popping in Tom's neck as he lashed out at Hermione. "Do I make myself clear?" Feeling the rocks behind her pushing sharply into her flesh, Hermione whispered, "Yes Tom, I understand. I'll do as you say." Tom's eyes showed no emotion other than wrath at Hermione's mistake. 

"Let's go, we have guests awaiting us." Hermione knew she had crossed a line with Tom, but as unbalanced as he was already, the lines weren't always that clear. Hoping that she didn't anger him again that night, she quietly followed Tom, not saying anything.

Coming to the end of the tunnel Tom stopped. Turning to Hermione he handed her a black hood. "You must wear this the whole time we are entertaining our visitors. Clear?" Taking the hood from Tom's hand she said, "Clear, Tom." She hated being talked to like a child, but now was not the time to cross him about it.

Tom put his hood on, and turning to Hermione he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "Remember what I told you," he said in his commanding voice, "You must be fearless."

Turning quickly, Tom opened the door to a huge room. Inside stood a large group of black robed and hooded Knights lining the walls like dull black stones in their shadowy clothing. In the middle of the room were seated four scared shitless boys tied down to wobbly stools. Hermione could see the panic on their faces and feel the anxiety in the air.

As Tom proceeded into the room, all of the Knights dropped down to one knee and in unison said, "Our Lord, heir to Slytherin, and keeper of the darkness. We are at your service." Someone next to Hermione yanked on Hermione's arm and roughly pulled her down next to them. With a cryptic voice, eerily familiar to the Voldemort of her time, Hermione heard, "Rise, my faithful followers," as Tom raised his arms into the air.

Everyone in the room stood, eagerly waiting to see what their great leader was going to do tonight. "As you know my followers," Tom started as he circled around the room, "We are an assembly of perfection and power." Hermione felt herself start to shake whether from the cutting air in the room or the proceedings that would take place.

"We are the pure ones in the wizarding world; there is more that is expected of us." Tom said as he stopped in front of Hermione and turned towards her, "Our purpose is to gain power, and to rid the world of those unworthy, the dirty Muggles, Mudbloods and the disloyal Purebloods, those blood traitors."

Hermione sweated underneath her hood and robe thinking what Tom would do if he knew she was really one of the Mudbloods that he hated. As if reading her mind Tom continued, "Pureblood is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing." Suppressing a crazy giggle, she thought how ironic it was that Tom was giving this demented speech with him being a half-blood. As history would show, this point never stopped him in his quest of superiority.

"Tonight is another step toward showing the worthless traitors that they are not welcome in our world." As Tom continued his speech, all was quiet except for the whimpering coming from one of the tied down boys. "It is time," Tom began, turning towards the terror stricken boys and saying almost in a whisper, "for your judgment, filth. Strip them."

Hermione watched horrified as the four boys, one she recognized as a seventh year Muggleborn from Gryffindor, were untied and yanked from their chairs by unknown Knights. As hands roughly reached out; shirts, shoes, pants and boxers were ripped off of the captives. They soon were standing there naked and shivering. Tom threw his head back and gave a maniacal laugh. Pointing his wands at the 

naked student's cocks he cast a stinging hex their way. "They aren't even skilfully endowed as we are. Some would be amazed and maybe frightened by what lies between my legs," Tom proudly proclaimed as he turned in Hermione's direction.

She could almost feel his smirk under his hood, making Hermione squirm. Pointing his wand to the ceiling, heavy chains fell down, "Incarcerous," Tom said. The chains, with wrist cuffs, clamped down on the prisoners wrist. They were now hanging by their arms suspended one foot from the ground.

"Someone here help us please!" yelled one of the scared boys. Tom turned quickly to the one responsible for the outburst, "Silencio", he said pointing his wand and casting the spell. "I did not say you could talk. Crucio." The seventh year withered in pain, crying out silently and bucking against his chains.

Hermione felt herself wanting to rush to his aide. The Knight standing by Hermione pressed his arm across her body, stopping her from moving. Feeling hot breath against her ear she heard, "Don't even think about moving or you will be next." Hermione looked at the Knight recognizing the voice of Abraxas Malfoy as he said, "It will be over with soon. Don't try The Dark Lord's patience when the darkness is overcoming him."

Hermione sucked in her breath as she heard Abraxas call Tom by that name. Tom again made a circle around the room. "Those who were chosen," he motioned to four Knights, "You will come forward to show your supremacy over these loathsome creatures." Four of the Knights, including Abraxas, stepped forward in front of the four entrapped boys. With wands pointed forward they all said, "Mortiferum Flagellum," shooting a stream of black from their wands, which shimmered as it shaped itself into a whip.

The Knights cracked their magical whips in the air. The youngest captive boy started crying seeing the whips and fearful what would happen to him. "You can't even be man enough to take your punishment?" Tom mocked the fourth year as he sobbed, begging for mercy. "You don't deserve our mercy," then Tom spat in his face; laughing while watching the spittle run down the boy's nose.

In unison, as if they had practiced, the four Knights drew back their whips accompanied by a ringing crack and met their targets, sending a miasma of dark magic into the air as the smoky black whips met their targets of bare chests. The shrill screams of the victims only fuelled on their attackers.

As each crack of the whip resounded, Hermione felt sick. Blood was leaking in trails down their chests, backs, buttocks and legs. The ugly welts, swollen red, were slashed open again and again. As the flogging continued the skin started peeling from the bodies of the innocent victims. The blood pooling at their feet was so offensive to Hermione she wanted to vomit. Even after fighting in the war with all its death and destruction this affected her differently. There was no great cause she was fighting for amidst this scenario of destruction. The room seemed smaller as the stench from the blood and defecation mingled in the air. Hermione dared not move. Gods, what had she gotten herself in to? Maybe Dumbledore was right, she hadn't known what she was getting into; but she was in too deep now. She had to keep playing this wretched game. She knew that it was all a gamble whether or not she succeeded. But there were no means for her to quit now; play or die.

Snatching her out of her daze was the sound of silence; as the whipping had stopped. "My Lord," one of the Knights said, "This young one is not breathing." Hermione refrained from a gasping while Tom said, 

"He will be disposed of." A human life was over and the cold attitude towards his death was almost overwhelming to Hermione. The other three boys also appeared to be dead. "What of the others?" Tom asked. After checking for signs of life, and were confirmed to be alive, Tom charged, "The others will be obliviated and dumped by the lake." At that moment Hermione wanted to ask to be obliviated also so she wouldn't have to remember what had happened tonight. Tom had said that she would learn about the real him tonight and who she would become. Bloody Hell! This was not anything what she had ever wanted to aspire to. How was she ever going to keep this plan going? Hermione felt so confused, on one hand her relationship had deepened on many levels with Tom and she couldn't get enough of him. But then after seeing this side of him tonight, that reminded her of who Tom Riddle was, the future Lord Voldemort, she hated him.

Tearing off his hood, Tom's normally perfect hair was matted down. He walked up to Hermione and lifted her hood off. Feeling embarrassed, she was sure that her hair looked even worse than Tom's hair.

Oh bugger! When did she turn into Ginny or Lavender and started caring about how her hair looked? It probably happened after a very handsome wizard said that he had chosen her and wanted her. Tom's vanity was wearing off on her. Tom actually grinned and swept his hand through Hermione's hair trying to flatten it out.

Smiling back at him she said, "You could do that all night long and it will probably look the same way as when you started unless I shower." With that statement Tom's eyebrows wagged up and down, "I may have to help you rectify your problem." Leaning into Hermione he kissed her in his forceful way showing her what was now on his mind.

"Alphard, escort Hermione and Lucretia back to their room." Alphard nodded his head in acknowledgment of Tom's order. Lifting his hand he rubbed Hermione's face softly and tilted her chin up so she would meet his eyes. "When I am done here, we need to discuss some things." Giving her one more abrasive kiss, he kissed her hand and Alphard led them out of the Room of Terror.

Shaking her head in confusion, she looked at Lucretia who only gave her a look of understanding. What had just happened back there? One minute a raging psychopath and the next a caring lover? What did he want to talk about now? Every time he wanted to seriously talk to her about something it was always connected to something unpleasant. What was waiting for her next? If she had known right then what it was, she would have run in the other direction back to 1998.


	5. Chapter 5: Who's In Charge?

Chapter 5: Who's in Charge?

Hermione and Lucretia stumbled into their room and shut the door. They both sat down on Hermione's bed and Hermione broke down in strangled sobs. Lucretia put her arms around Hermione and pulled her to her chest as she whispered softly, "Its ok. I know. I remember the first time I witnessed a trial."

Hermione laid her head on Lucretia's shoulder as she rocked Hermione back and forth to soothe her.

With tears streaming down Hermione's face she asked, "Do you agree with what happened tonight?"

Lucretia smoothed down Hermione's rowdy hair as she replied, "It doesn't matter if I do or not, does it?" she asked softly. "I am one of the Knights. I have been initiated and have taken a vow." Lucretia had a melancholy tone of regret in her voice when she said softly, "It's too late to change my mind."

Hermione looked into Lucretia's eyes, "What do you mean it's too late?" Lucretia stood up and walked across the room to her own bed. Hanging onto the bedpost, she shook her head and closed her eyes, "Once a Knight, always a Knight, until death. It's part of the vow." Hermione sat on the bed with a horrified look on her face.

"You know that's what he wants to talk to you about later," Lucretia said, making eye contact with Hermione. "You do still have a choice Hermione," she said, trying to sound convincing.

Hermione stood and walked over to Lucretia. Taking Lucretia's hand in hers she said, "I don't have a choice, I must join the Knights." Lucretia squeezed Hermione's hand back, and with a sob spurted out, "I know, I know. I wish that you were wrong, but you are right."

Lucretia hugged Hermione tightly until a knock at the door broke their hug and in walked Abraxas. "Are you ready Lucretia?" he asked noticing the tear stained faces of the girls. "Where are you going Lucretia?" said Hermione very worried. "I am spending the night in Abraxas and Alphard's room," responded Lucretia with an anxious voice. Like a punch in the stomach Hermione knew what this meant. She would have a visitor in her room that night, all alone, and she wasn't sure that she was looking forward to it.

As Hermione slept she dreamed about hands; hands sliding up her calves and slipping up to her thighs. The hands then swirled over her stomach, continued upwards until they reached her breasts. The thumbs on the hands circled around and around her nipples until they were hard and pointed.

As the hands continued their dance, they glided softly up around her neck, across her face, until they reached her full lips. The lips mashing against her own, felt so genuine and soft. Hands began to slink around her hips again as she felt her night gown being pushed upwards. The kisses being trailed along her stomach were ticklish, but leaving hot spots along the way. Hermione started to wake and tried to jump out of the bed, except a long hard body was holding her down.

As she opened her eyes, she met the desire laden eyes of Tom Riddle. "It's about time you woke up," he said huskily, "I thought I would have to hex you," he gave Hermione a grin, softening the underlying 

threat of his words. Her lover appeared to be back and The Dark Lord was absent; at least for the moment.

Bending his head towards Hermione's his gaze licked over her like hot flames in a fire. He dove in to hungrily kiss Hermione as her lips accepted his soft gift. Hermione's fingers curled through Tom's hair as she pressed up into his hardness. Moaning softly, she felt the wildness return that only happened when she was this close to Tom.

He shuddered over Hermione as her breasts brushed warmly against his naked chest. Hermione smoothed her hands over Tom's chest and down around his navel.

She looked up with shocked eyes. "Are you only wearing your boxers?" she asked in a high squeaky voice. "Uh huh," Tom said in a muffled voice, as his lips were lost in the crook of Hermione's neck.

Bestowing kisses generously to Hermione's neck, cheeks and lips he looked at Hermione, "Why? If they are bothering you, I give you permission to take them off," Tom gave a wicked smile. Hermione sputtered and managed to say, "I…well…Tom!" Then she playfully slapped him on his shoulder. "Please?" Tom asked in a whiny voice.

Hermione's mind was racing in many directions as it always tended to do. Pushing Tom off her a little she sat up on her elbows, "I thought that you wanted to talk to me about something important?" asked Hermione. Pulling her nightgown off of her, Tom pushed Hermione back flat on the bed. "I changed my mind," Tom said bending down to suck on a ripe breast. "I think you talk too much at times love."

Turning, he trailed kisses over to the other breast. Sucking in her breath Hermione gasped, "How about we talk and then we do this," she asked as her heart was racing from Tom's administrations. "I think it's a bad plan," Tom said matter-of-factly. "We won't be finishing this if we talk." Tom shook his head.

Hermione tried reasoning with him, "What if I promised you, that we will continue this no matter what you have to say to me?" Angrily looking up he muttered with clenched teeth, "If it will Bloody well get you to stop talking," Tom said exasperated, "then yes, let's talk now!" Hermione beamed, having won at least one argument with Tom.

He rolled onto his side leaning his head on his arm, "I need you to be looking at me when we talk. It is of the utmost importance what you will hear right now," Tom said seriously. "Because I have chosen you as the woman to stand with me in my mission," Tom started, "You must take a very important step."

Hermione knew what words were coming next. "Hermione, it is essential that you become one of my Knights," he whispered as he reached out to intertwine his fingers through hers. "You have seen a lot tonight. Your initiation into the Knights will not be an easy thing; nor uncomplicated."

Tom brought Hermione's hand up to his mouth and gave it several feathery kisses as he whispered against her skin, "In fact, it will be one of the hardest things that you will ever have to do." Hermione sat up and put her head in her hands, "What do I have to do Tom?" she asked in a stilted voice, "Please tell me?" she questioned Tom.

Looking away, Tom said, "I can't tell you right now, it's neither the time nor place Hermione." With fear pulsing through her body, she instantly lashed out at Tom, "Why not? You are the leader of the Knights! You of all people know what happens at the initiation!" Hermione looked as mad as a hornet.

Tom sat up then, very irate, "See, I told you if we talked right now we would never get around to this," he said pointing at his crotch. Throwing his arms into the air, he vaulted out of bed, and shoved his arms into his robe. Hermione climbed out of bed and started to walk towards Tom. He put out his hand motioning for her to stop. "Stay right there," he motioned, "Even though you look rather enticing with those firm breasts beckoning me; I'm leaving."

Hermione started to walk towards him again, "No Hermione, not tonight. You wouldn't want me when I am angry," he fumed. "I can be a little rough. We will talk about this tomorrow." With that said, he opened the door, slamming it hard as he left. Hermione stood there, hugging herself, as she dropped to her knees softly crying.

Walking to the Great Hall the next day was not pleasant for Hermione. She had not slept well after Tom had stormed out, leaving Hermione a mess. Not only was she tired, but very grumpy. In addition, she did not want to talk to, look at or breathe the same air as Tom Riddle. Now, Hermione had to figure out how to accomplish this today; as she had every class with him and had to sit at the same house table to eat.

Walking into the Great Hall, she looked over at the Slytherin table and of course "they" were there; all of the Knights and Tom Riddle. The occupants of the Slytherin table had always been a pain in her side since she first came to Hogwarts; there was no difference now. Glancing over at Tom and shooting him a Severus Snape glare, she started to walk to the other end of the table.

Tom stood and blocked Hermione's way, "Where are you going?" he asked gruffly. Hermione still shooting the evil eye at Tom tried to walk around him. Once again Tom blocked her way by putting his arm up in front of her. Lifting her chin up in order to make eye contact with him, Tom said, "Are you not going to talk to me today then?"

Hermione just shook her head with her eyes still blazing at Tom. The encounter between Hermione and Hogwarts' Head Boy was being watched by every person in the Great Hall. They all saw as Hermione batted Tom's hand away, gave him one last glare and walked away. Low whistles of astonishment and a jumble of disbelief and murmurs were heard amongst the otherwise silent Great Hall.

Making eye contact with Dumbledore up at the teacher's table, he gave Tom a knowing smirk. Blood boiling to a breaking point, Tom glared back at him, slamming the doors open as he marched out of the Great Hall.

Up ahead he saw Hermione standing quietly. "Hermione," he said in a cutting tone. Hermione turned back to Tom with a look on her face Tom had never seen before. He saw something so different in her that he was instantly aroused; Hermione was enraged! Her normally amber colored eyes were pitch 

black. Her wild, curly hair was now even more savage looking, much fuller and flying all around her head. Hermione's cheeks were fiery red and she looked ready for battle. Tom still so worked up from what had happened in the Great Hall wanted to punish Hermione; but at the same time seeing the new and agitated Hermione, he really wanted to throw her up against the wall and take her right there for all of Hogwarts to see.

Hermione could see as Tom stepped out of the Great Hall that he was incensed. The air was filled with the combined, combustible magic coming from the heated couple. Before Tom could do anything, Hermione marched swiftly up to Tom. Grabbing the front of Tom's robes in her small hands, she pulled him towards her until they crashed into each other. Tom could feel her heaving breasts against him as she breathed heavily with ire. "You said that you chose me and that I belong to you," she said in a loud forceful voice. Tom felt a strong twinge of irritation at being man-handled by Hermione but decided to hear her out to see where this was going. "But if I belong to you, then you damn well belong to me!"

Tom's eyes grew wide at this declaration. He tried to talk but Hermione put her fingers up against his lips to stop his speech. No one had ever done this to him before. If it had been anyone other than Hermione, they would be dead.

"Don't you ever be dishonest with me again. Do not ever hold things back from me again; especially when it concerns me!" Tom looked down into the impassioned face of the woman who was slowly turning into his Achilles heel. "Do I make myself clear?" Tom doing the safe thing for the moment, nodded down at Hermione.

Calming down a bit, seeing that Tom had listened to her speech, said, "Well done then." Hermione, feeling a bit self conscious and wanting to retreat from the growing audience in the hallway said "See you in Potions." And she briskly walked down the hall.

Dumbstruck, Tom stood there for a moment straight faced, while his friends waited to see what he would do. Tom suddenly grinned and started laughing in his deep voice. Turning to Abraxas he punched him in the arm and said, "I chose well; cor blimey, I chose very, very well."

Sitting twirling her quill, Hermione waited, along with the rest of his gang, for Tom to come to Potions class. Even though she was nervous about what Tom would do after she had taken a stand, the door opened and in walked a somber Tom Riddle. Hermione started feeling sick inside as Tom didn't look her way, only sat staring straight ahead. Bugger, she knew that she was in trouble now. But what would he do to her?

"Ok children, it's time for today's lesson in potions," said the befuddled Professor Slughorn. "You will be making the Draught of Living Death. The ingredients are on the board and I will be giving you two hours to complete it. But first I need to go over some key facts."As Professor Slughorn continued to talk, Hermione felt a hand under the table sliding up her thigh and heading towards her knickers.

Out of the corner of her eye she looked at Tom who was still staring straight ahead expressionless. As Tom's fingers wandered into her knickers they went straight for her mound where he stroked lightly back and forth across her folds.

Hermione tried not to squirm as the intensity of the stroking increased. Hermione let out a low moan as Tom was flicking his fingers against her clit. Horrified, Hermione looked over at the nearest table where Lucretia sat with a questioning look on her face. Abraxas, sitting next to her, with a typical Malfoy smirk, tried not to laugh out loud.

The ever stoic looking Tom leaned over and whispered, "Back in the hallway, " he said as he continued to caress Hermione into a heated fire, "That was the most aroused I have ever been in my whole life. I like you that way."

Hermione looked over at him with glazed eyes and leaned back as her orgasm took over her body in powerful ripples. Everyone within a certain radius could see what was happening with Hermione. And the boys were having a hard time controlling themselves. It was a good thing they were all seated at the tables.

As Hermione was trying to regain control, as well as regulate her breathing, Tom once again whispered in her ear as he nuzzled her neck, "I may belong to you love," he said huskily, "but I am still in charge."

Then he stood up, licking his fingers, and left to get the potion ingredients.

"Bloody Hell," said Hermione, as her head dropped down and smacked on the table.


	6. Chapter 6: I Can Duel Better Than You Ca

**Chapter 6: I Can Duel Better Than You Can**

In the cozy room that most of the inhabitants of Hogwarts knew nothing about, sat the inner circle of The Knights of Walpurgis. At the head of the table sat their leader, Tom Riddle, aka The Dark Lord.

"So Tom, it is going to happen isn't it?" asked Abraxas.

"Well of course it is going to happen you wanker," said Alphard.

"But please tell me that you are not going to have her follow through with the same initiation process as the others?" questioned Radbourne Lestrange crossly.

Abraxas looked over at Radbourne, "But in order to be a true Knight, she must follow the same process as all of us, otherwise the ritual cannot take place," he said heatedly.

"Don't you think it would be wise to listen to what the Dark Lord has to say, as this is his future mate we are discussing?" asked Casper Crouch. All eyes turned to the head of the table where the Dark Lord sat with his stone cold demeanor and piercing eyes. "Well?" asked Abraxas.

The silence in the room was thick as sludge as they waited for an answer. "I was waiting for you lot to stop jabbering like a flock of geese," Tom said in his deep, harsh voice. The inner circle looked at Tom withashamed, downcast eyes.

"I know what will happen to Hermione during her initiation. She will be tested in ways that will challenge her the most." Tom explained. "I have made the decision and no arguments will be raised. Do I make myself clear?" Tom asked raising as eyebrow. With a chorus of "Yes, my Lord," they all started to rise from their seats.

"Sit." Tom commanded. "You will say nothing to Hermione or the other Knights about what was discussed here. Hermione's initiation will take place two nights from now at midnight. Inform the others of the time and place."

With that, Tom rose and left the Room of Requirement. The rest of the inner circle sat staring at each other. Alphard said quietly, "I'm worried for Hermione," he said, his voice full of concern, "Just because he cares about her doesn't mean that he will go easy on her." The others nodded in silent agreement.

"She is such a show off," said Hermione sourly turning her nose up at the Gryffindor know it all.

"Just ignore her Hermione, you are better than her and you know it," Tom told her soothingly. Hermione sat with her arms crossed in front of her as she scowled at Minerva McGonagall. Hermione could not believe the behavior of the young McGonagall. She truly was dislikable. There were many even in Gryffindor that didn't like her, let along the normal dislike the Slytherins had for her. To make matters worse, the competition had increased between Hermione and Minerva in all of their classes together. One was always trying to out show, out smart and outclass the other. The rest of the school was just sitting back watching the show.

Behind the scenes Tom was delighted with the whole situation. He was thrilled that all of Hogwarts was witnessing the brilliance of his woman. Tom was hoping that after today, that there would be no doubt in anyone's mind who was the brightest and most brilliant witch that anyone had seen at Hogwarts since Rowena Ravenclaw.

The DADA class seventh years had been holding dueling matches all week long. It was the semi-final day of the duels. So far Abraxas had finished his Hufflepuff opponent after using a quick Rictusempra and body bind spell. Tom took less than ten seconds to end his contest with a very scared Ravenclaw. Lucretia, having lost to Minerva, blamed it all on Alphard because he had jinxed her with a babbling spell just minutes before her match. Hermione, like Tom, was successful at hexing and disarming a Gryffindor in around fourteen seconds. Now all that was left were two anticipated matches until the final. One was between Tom and Abraxas and the other was between Hermione and Minerva. The ladies were going first and Hermione was trying to keep from showing how nervous she was. The normal biting of the lip was being stifled by Tom. Whenever she started to nibble her lips Tom would give her a look one would give a naughty two year old.

Professor Galatea Merrythought called out, "Now the duel between Hermione MacMillan and Minerva McGonagall will take place." Hermione started to slide out of her seat but was stopped by Tom. "I have two words for you, No Mercy. If an accident occurs, oh well, then that is what will be." Hermione stood and nodded her head to Tom and gave him a tiny smile. "Go get her my little Moja Kochana." Hermione went up front to the left and Minerva from the right. Hermione was trying to temper all of her anger and anxiety towards Minerva into outsmarting the witch. Gone were any good feelings of an older Professor McGonagall who was kind to a young, scared first year Muggleborn. All that was left was the heady dislike for a fellow student who took the term, "Know-it-All." to new levels.

Minerva, as she waited for the match to begin tried to calm her fears. Even with all of her outward pretense of calm, she was terrified and was trying not to show it. Hermione's eyes bored into Minerva, then Hermione started undoing her school robes. Throwing her school robes to the crowd, Tom caught it one handed with a smirk. There stood Hermione in a tight pair of black yoga pants she had transfigured and a tight revealing white t-shirt. On the t-shirt it said, "I Eat Gryffindors for Breakfast" With the skin tight outfit clinging to Hermione's every curve, there was nothing left to the imagination. After several cat-calls, whistles and rounds of applause from the Slytherins, Minerva looked paler than the Ravenclaw ghost. Hermione's eyes never left Minerva's face. Hermione's main game plan was for 

intimidation to take place and so far she was doing a good job and the match hadn't even begun. Tom was the only person to recognize the look in Hermione's eyes, mainly because he had seen that same look in the hallway just a few days ago.

"Ready ladies," asked Professor Merrythought, "take your positions and make this a fair duel." Hermione just sneered at Minerva; while Minerva nervously licked her lips as she felt the sweat trickle down her back. At first neither witch moved a muscle. Both were waiting to see who would make the first move. Hermione started to move her wand hand and instantly Minerva jumped, "Protego!" Hermione just laughed, "I just had a twitch," she said mockingly. Before Minerva could think or react, Hermione's curse flew through the air, "Impedimenta". Minerva could only move her arm slowly as Hermione sent a stunning spell, "Stupefy," that knocked Minerva off of her feet. As Minerva fell backwards, Hermione shouted out, "Incarcerous" and bound her opponent up like a pig for roasting. Minerva fell hard, knocking her head harshly on the wooden floor. Hermione once again raised her wand arm to cast another curse and Professor Merrythought ran forward, "Enough, enough; it's over Miss MacMillan." Hermione looking somewhat crazed stood silently staring at a bound and bleeding Minerva. Breathing raggedly she slowly raised her arm to continue her abuse of Minerva when she felt two sturdy arms wrap around her body holding her arms down to her sides. Feeling the warm breath against her ear she heard, "Well done, my love, my Moja Kochana." Hermione leaned back into Tom's rugged chest, almost melting into him.

As Tom led Hermione to her seat Minerva was taken to the hospital wing. As Hermione sat in her seat, she looked over at Tom, "I wanted to hurt her." Tom listening to her kept the delight he felt out of his countenance. "But I didn't just want to hurt her Tom, I wanted her dead." As Hermione was deciphering her mixed feelings, Tom was gleeful at the change he was seeing in Hermione. Even before her initiation, she was becoming the woman that he wanted and needed by his side.

Professor Merrythought interrupted his thinking, "Now the match between Abraxas Malfoy and Tom Riddle will take place. Please take your positions gentlemen." As the two Slytherins strutted forward they both had smirks on their faces. Abraxas whispered, "Should we give them a show or shall we just let me win this quickly?" Tom giving a deep laugh, whispered back, "A show is fine with me my friend, but the match belongs to me," he said confidently. "I will be the one to duel Hermione in the final duel."

Abraxas, moving quickly, sent a hex towards Tom, "Rictusempra," and Tom immediately started laughing uncontrollably. Through his laughter he shot a spell off, "Everte Statum" and Abraxas went flying. Abraxas stood and aimed his wand at Tom shouting out, "Immobulous," but Tom dodged the shot of red light and yelled out, "Protego." The two friends, though they didn't want any real harm to come to one another, neither did they want to lose. Hermione sitting on the sidelines secretly pointed her wand at Tom, "Finite Incantatum," and Tom stopped laughing. Tom, knowing who had stopped the spell, quickly looked over at Hermione and winked at her. At the same time, Lucretia was doing the same thing to free up Abraxas. Soon, both handsome wizards were up on their feet ready for more action. Tom wanting to end all of this foolishness shot his spell off towards Abraxas, "Engorgio," as he pointed at Abraxas' nose. In front of his eyes Abraxas saw his nose swelling up as big as his head. He could not see anything in front of him. Taking a chance he sent out a "Confundo," charm which 

accidently hit Alphard. Tom had leapt aside to avoid Abraxas' hex and pointing his wand at Abraxas shouted, "Petrificus Totalus," and Abraxas keeled over smacking the floor as his body hit the ground. The whole room was silent until Hermione was heard saying, "Well done love, well done." She rushed forward pressing her tightly clothed body against Tom's sweating frame. He leaned down tangling his hands in Hermione's hair and kissed her soundly. Professor Merrythought, stammering, wasn't sure what to say, "Uh...I...Yes.., Tom is the winner," he pronounced. "Oh, Finite Incantatum," he said as he pointed his wand towards Abraxas and Lucretia went running to help him.

"That will be all today until Mondays final duel," said the Professor, wearily eyeing Tom and Hermione who were still snogging each other quite ferociously in the middle of the room.

Later that afternoon the Slytherin common room was quite a cheerful place. "I told you I would win," Tom shot out to Abraxas. Rubbing his red and scraped nose Abraxas said, "But did you have to be so brutal?" Lucretia was there by his side rubbing his shoulders and running her fingers through his shiny shoulder length hair. Tom, giving a polite laugh, suddenly stopped, and in a sharp voice questioned, "Please tell me that you are not serious?" asked Tom in a disgusted voice. "My right hand man really shouldn't be such a pansy." Tom said in a haughty voice. The two girls looked at each other and started to laugh. "Of course I am joking Tom," said Abraxas lazily, "you said we were going to give them a show, just not how we were going to do it." Tom rolling his eyes ran his hand up and down Hermione's back as she leaned into his side.

"Lucretia and Hermione, I need you both ready by 11:00p.m. tonight to meet with the Knights."

Hermione sitting up straight, and a chill running down her back, looked at Tom, "What is happening Tom?" Hermione asked in a pinched voice.

Tom furrowing his brow answered, "I thought I told you not to question me Hermione." he answered sitting on the edge of the couch.

Hermione standing up with her hands on her hips clipped back, "I told you not to keep things from me that concern me," she said with her voice rising higher.

Tom with a raging look headed towards Hermione and said, "I thought you had learned your lesson about who is in charge!" she clamored back as he leaned in nose to nose challenging her.

Hermione trying to make full use of her 5'4" frame against his 6'2" frame said bitterly, "You are not in charge of me!" she shrieked.

As soon as Hermione and Tom had started confronting one another the common room had begun clearing out. Only the two lovebirds and the Knights were left to witness the drama.

Tom grabbing Hermione by her long curly hair, jerked her head back and holding it still, "When it comes to the Knights," he said slowly, "I am in charge and you will obey me."

He let go of Hermione's hair and she turned to Lucretia and quickly pulled her off of the couch. "We need to go get ready because he, who is in charge, said so," Hermione said saucily, and off Hermione flounced in righteous indignation.

Tom still fuming muttered, "She's going to be the death of me some day," and he marched away to his own room.

Later that Evening

Every sound coming from the hallway made Hermione jump and stare at the door.

Lucretia looked at Hermione, "Do you have to keep doing that?"

Hermione shot her an annoyed look back, "I'm sorry okay. I'm just a little nervous tonight." Hermione looked down and fidgeted with her hands picking at her nail polish.

"You had better not let Tom hear you say that Hermione," said Lucretia in a warning voice.

Hermione taking a deep breath steadily rose and said, "I know and I will be ready for tonight." As Hermione waited for a response from Lucretia there was a knock at the door. "Oh please tell me it is not 11:00 already?" asked Hermione fretfully. Lucretia went to answer the door and in walked two seventh year Slytherin girls. All three girls turned to Hermione. "Let me officially introduce you to Amanda and Clarice," said Lucretia politely. Hermione smiled at both girls and they all stood smiling at each other for awhile.

"Ok, I am so happy to meet you both, but forgive my rudeness," she said gesturing to herself, "But why are you here?"

"She doesn't beat around the bush does she," laughed Clarice.

"No that is for sure, not our Hermione," giggled Lucretia.

"So?" asked Hermione impatiently and feeling very irritated, "What is happening? I am so tired of being left in the dark"

Lucretia turned to Hermione, "The first part of the initiation is taking place right now," she explained.

Hermione looking a little skeptical questioned, "You mean part of the initiation is taking place without Tom here?"

All three girls laughed, "Well if you really want him here I'm sure that he could be persuaded," Amanda spurted out.

"What's so funny? Please tell me why what I said was so funny?" Hermione said shaking her head.

Lucretia took Hermione's hand and sat her down on her bed. "Hermione the first part of the initiation is done segregated by sex, male and female," Lucretia explained,"It is called the Physical Cleansing Ritual." Hermione sat silently listening, eyes not straying from Lucretia's.

"This will allow your body and mind to transition from the mundane; to sweep away the dust and dirt from the mundane world. We do this so it doesn't interfere with your magical workings. "Lucretia stood there waiting for Hermione to say something.

"So, "asked Hermione, "I just need to take a bath?" she asked still very confused.

Clarice answered, "It is more than that. As female Knights it is required of us to administer the Physical Cleansing ritual."

Sitting up straight and with a distressed voice Hermione gushed out, "You mean you three have to give me a bath?" Hermione, blushing, looked from one girl to the next wanting her questions answered quickly.

"It's more than a bath," said Amanda, "There are certain things that must be said as oils are placed on your body. "

Lucretia took Hermione's hand leading her into the bathroom. As Amanda ran the bath water, Lucretia and Clarice started undressing Hermione. As each item was pulled off of her body, and more of her skin exposed to the girls, she tried to remember what this ritual was all about. As the cold air hit her breasts, her nipples hardened into sharp peaks and she felt shivers run through her whole body. None of the girls outwardly stared at Hermione, but helped her into the highly scented water and immediately started the ritual.

Looking back at the ritual it was not as embarrassing as she had thought it would be. As each limb was rubbed with oil, a purpose was given in how it was to be used to serve the Knights and The Dark Lord. As each part of the ritual occurred, Hermione was feeling changes in her body and soul. As the oils were applied Lucretia explained the purpose of each oil. The Benzoin oil was to increase personal power and more clearly awaken the conscious mind. The Black Opium oil was to open hidden worlds and the Blue Spruce oil was for protection against enemies. Hermione was especially grateful for the Cardamom oil which was given to increase courage to face any situation. The Ginger Oil was applied last and Caprice said it was for success in rituals and magic.

Once Hermione was dressed in deep, green, velvet robes and with her long hair piled high in a bun, she was ready to face anyone and anything. Hermione did feel stronger physically, mentally and emotionally. She would prove to Tom and the Knights that she was worthy to be one of them and fight with them; and in the long run, if needs be, defeat them. Things really were going her way. She was 

being taught by one of the greatest manipulators the world had ever seen and she was learning at a rapid pace.

Amanda placed the hood of the cloak on Hermione's head. As they walked down the same dark, damp hallway she had journeyed through before the trial, her spirits remained strong. Clarice was in front of her, Amanda in the back and Lucretia by her side. The scared little girl that had been reprimanded, by Tom, in this same shady enclosure, was gone now. Walking down the hallway was a woman ready to battle, ready to stand tall and accept her fate on this night of her initiation.

As they got to the door, Clarice opened it and all of the Knights were lining the room, in their dark Knights robes, silent as statues. In the middle of the room was a black and gray stone altar, draped with a silver and green altar cloth. On the cloth was a picture of the Knights crest with the intertwined snakes. Behind the altar stood Tom, now in the persona of The Dark Lord. With no hood on his head, his eyes met Hermione's. With no smile playing on his mouth, it was his eyes that gave away his pleasure at Hermione's appearance.

"Hermione MacMillan, come," The Dark Lord said in his resonant voice, "Kneel before the Dark Lord to start the initiation ritual to become one of my Knights."

Hermione walked forward, dropped to her knees and looked straight into The Dark Lord's eyes, "I am ready my Lord," and with a small smirk back at Tom, she let him know she was not only ready for this, but would prove that she would not disappoint him.

Instantly startling her, cuffs and chains appeared around her wrists shackling her to the altar. Now her arms were tied down to her sides and she had no way to move. Showing no fear she continued to look up at The Dark Lord.

"Yes, "said The Dark Lord, "Let's begin." as his possessed laughter filled the room.


	7. Chapter 7: The Initiation

**Chapter 7: The Initiation**

Hermione felt the cold shackles clamp down around her wrists, leaving no room for movement. Her head was spinning as she was trying to comprehend why she had been chained to the altar. No one had told her anything about the Knights initiation. Hermione tried to remain calm and focus on her surroundings. As she slowed her breathing The Dark Lord began to speak, "We gather together as The Knights of Walpurgis to induct another into the brotherhood of the Knights." Hermione, as she gazed upward could see that Tom was in his glory as he lectured to his Knights. "We bring strength and power to our assemblage as we bring someone as strong and capable and intelligent as Hermione into our throng."

Looking down at Hermione he addressed her, "Hermione, do you come on your own strength and volition?"

Hermione answered in a placid voice, "Yes my Lord. I come by my own choice and freewill." The Dark Lord nodded at her affirmation.

Then he continued with his discourse, "There are five areas that one must pass through in order to become one of the Knights," Tom looked carefully at Hermione as he explained, "You must accomplish your tasks in all five areas or you will not be inducted into the Knights. "

Each member of the Knights of Walpurgis remembered their own initiation. They knew what fate soon awaited Hermione. "The five areas that you will be tested in…" Hermione tried to listen attentively even though her thoughts were whirling around in her head, ranging from the food that she wished she had eaten three hours ago to wondering what color boxers Tom was wearing right now. "The areas are first, Endurance, second, Loyalty, third, Sacrifice, fourth Cunning and the fifth area is always suited to the individual's greatest strength; yours happens to be your intelligence."

Hermione's nose twitched as the smell of the melting wax dripped from the candles that encompassed the room. Feeling all of the eyes in the shaded room on her made her feel smaller than she really was. Trying to summon the courage she felt before she had entered the room she boldly said, "I respectfully ask that we go ahead with the first test."

"Eager are we Hermione?" asked the Dark Lord. "The test of Endurance is to prove to me that you can be solid and resolute when you are assigned a task. You must learn to submit to my will as your superior." Hermione silently nodded her head as the Dark Lord continued, "As you endure task #1, you show that you are unchangeable, that you won't break or collapse. If you cannot complete task #1 you will be obliviated so as not to remember the Knights or our mission." The Dark Lord was now silent as his eyes leveled on Hermione. The group of Knights moved forward until they all were surrounding the Dark Lord, the altar and Hermione. She felt like all of the air was being sucked out of her space.

"Look at me, Hermione as you undergo your task of Endurance." The darkness enveloped Tom fully and his eyes quickly changed to a pitch black, flecked with burning gold embers. He raised his wand arm in a loud voice shouted out, "Crucio."

Hermione didn't think that she would ever have to feel the torture of the Cruciatus Curse again, but here she was enduring the curse given to her from the Master of the Crucio. Once again Hermione heard called out the dreaded curse, "Crucio." and the bone crunching, breathtaking curse radiated throughout her whole body. Watching Hermione closely, Tom felt great pride as Hermione endured the curse, time after time, without any screams or tears.

Hermione remembered back to the war when she was captured at Malfoy Manor. She thought back to being tortured by Belletrix Lestrange repeatedly with the Cruciatus curse.

Lucretia, watching, was stunned that the Dark Lord persisted with the Endurance task. Most initiates only had to endure the curse five times; Hermione was on her seventh. Alphard looked at Lucretia with the same concern in his eyes. How much more was Hermione able to sustain. What was The Dark Lord expecting of Hermione by using the Cruciatus on her more than any other prospective Knight?

Hermione was sagging at the altar and felt her body and soul breaking. The tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. The dark magic in the air was making Hermione's own magic erratic. She felt a power growing inside of her as Tom focused all of his magic and force on her. Looking deep within the Dark Lord's eyes, she pushed back with her own energy and magic and felt a pulse racing inside of her that was swelling bigger and bigger. As the potency of the darkness struck Hermione she shrieked and manifesting her control, she forcibly blasted the cuffs and chains off of her body, sending them flying across the room. On wobbly legs she stood and the blood dripped off of her hands and down her arms.

To say the Dark Lord was stunned would be an understatement. With awe and respect the assembly of Knights all bowed in acknowledgement of Hermione's show of force. Hermione, maintaining eye contact with the Dark Lord whispered in a hoarse voice, "Is task #1 complete my Lord?" With a very rare smile ever seen on the Dark Lord during one of these rituals he exclaimed, "Knights of Walpurgis, are we in agreement that Hermione MacMillan has successfully completed task #1?" With a surrounding chorus of "Yes, my Lord," from the Knights, the Dark Lord nodded his head at Hermione. "Test #1 is complete; on to test #2, your test of Loyalty and taking the blood oath."

Hermione gave a weak laugh; "Well I already have blood on hand to use, don't I?" she asked as she held up her wrists over the altar and the blood dripped down and spattered across the face of the altar. The Dark Lord, raising his wand cast a healing spell on Hermione's wrists, "Curatio Intus." The bleeding stopped instantly and Hermione felt the flesh on her wrists heal. To see an act of mercy performed by the Dark Lord was astounding to the Knights. If there was any doubt in their minds about Tom's feelings for Hermione, those doubts were erased at this very instance.

"Hermione, you will now undertake test #2, your test of loyalty," the Dark Lord continued with the initiation. "You will show your loyalty to me by taking a blood oath. Only by showing your fidelity to me will you be able to become a true Knight of Walpurgis." Hermione was feeling very lightheaded after her blood loss and started swaying. With the Knights still encircling Hermione and the Dark Lord, several pairs of hands reached out to help Hermione from falling. Hermione, not wanting to disgrace herself in front of the Dark Lord of the Knights, summoned her inner strength, grounded herself and yelled, 

"Stop!" as she kept herself from falling. All hands reaching out backed off immediately. Once again the Dark Lord felt his impressions confirmed watching Hermione summon such power.

"Abraxas and Lucretia come forward to assist in the ritual." Abraxas brought out his wand and reached for Hermione's hand. Speaking the words, "Diffindo," he cut open Hermione's palm; while at the same time Lucretia was using the same spell to cut open the Dark Lord's palm. Lifting up Hermione's hand, the Dark Lord placed his palm against Hermione's to allow their blood to mingle.

"Hermione, you will repeat after me, stating your own name where needed," this was almost said with a slight grin, "I… state your full name," said the Dark Lord.

"I, Hermione Jean MacMillan…" stated an intense Hermione.

"Give my mind, my body and my soul to the Dark Lord," the words fell crisply off of the Dark Lord's lips.

"Give my mind, my body and my… soul to the Dark Lord," and a part of Hermione's soul flinched as she promised her soul to the Dark Lord.

"Even until death will I serve him as a Knight of Walpurgis," The Dark Lord watched Hermione closely as each part of the vow was given to her to gauge her reaction and acceptance.

"Even until death will I serve him as a Knight of Walpurgis," Hermione uttered, not faltering as she said any of the words.

Abraxas, raising his wand again cast out a black smoky rope that wrapped around the Dark Lord and Hermione's wrists and said these words to seal the ritual, "Corpus, Ratio, Animusque." As the mystical rope wrapped around their wrists and the ritual words were spoken, a small wind started swirling around the Dark Lord and Hermione. It started blowing faster and stronger until the circle of Knights was pushed back by the force of the winds. Hermione could feel her breathing becoming shallow. As she looked over at the Dark Lord, she could see he was experiencing the same thing, having difficulty breathing. Hermione tried to pull her hand away, but to no avail; it was as if their hands were cemented together. They felt the burning start at the tips of their fingers, and then it flowed down their hands, along their arms and then spreading out to all of their limbs. To the rest of the Knights they only saw that the Dark Lord and Hermione were engulfed in flames.

"Do you feel that Hermione? Do you feel the burning?" the Dark Lord asked as he gazed into Hermione's half lidded eyes. Hermione responded by nodding her head slowly and she felt the burning increase from the inside out. "Oh, Tom, it feels so…" Hermione tried to explain how she was feeling.

"Yes, love, I am feeling the same thing. It is touching us body, mind and soul; Corpus, Ratio, Animusque, just as the ritual words said." Tom knew that no one else could hear what they were saying as they were engulfed in the protection of the Eternal Flames.

"I know that this may sound odd Tom, but it feels like a compilation of getting a long awaited gift, acing a test and the best orgasm you have ever experienced." she explained while laughing.

Tom licking his dry lips said, "Of course you would have to mention the test, but I'm glad that you mentioned the orgasm love, because I have more of that to give you later tonight," he said provocatively.

As Tom and Hermione were safe within the Eternal Flames, the rest of the Knights were backed up against the walls of the room because of the intensity of the heat and flames. No one had ever seen this happen before during the initiation ritual.

"Hermione, would you like for me to explain about the flames?" Tom knew that curiosity was getting the best of her. "Of course I do Tom. I'm really not in a position right now to head off to the library and research what is happening; am I?" she said sarcastically. Giving Hermione a scathing look he started to explain, "There are many Dark Gods that are pleased tonight that you have combined your power with mine. The Eternal Flames are their way of showing their pleasure and acceptance of you as one of my Knights." Hermione felt awed by Tom's words. Never before had she known or felt that she was as powerful as Tom said. It was only because of him that she was becoming such a powerful witch.

There was greediness in her soul that made her want to become the most powerful witch in the world. Never before had she felt such longing in her soul. Hermione, not realizing where this feeling was coming from, would later understand that it occurred once Tom and Hermione's souls had connected.

Tom looked up to the ceiling and shouted, "Consummatum est," and the flames died down until they were extinguished. Carefully looking around the room, Tom and Hermione saw all of the Knights lying prostrate on the floor with their arms over their heads. Carefully observing, they noticed the charred walls, door and the smell of smoke in the room. The most surprising thing of all was that neither the Dark Lord nor Hermione were burned at all. They had been untouched, all except for one thing. As they pulled apart, they noticed their cuts were sealed. In place of the wounds were twin tattoos of the Eternal Flames on their hands; her right hand and his left. "We have been marked by the Gods this night as keepers of the Eternal Flames." Tom reached out to caress her cheek. "This is a great honor bestowed upon us."

Lucretia seeing the twin tattoos shouted out, "Oh Hail to Salazar Slytherin, they have been bonded!" Hermione turned quickly to look at Lucretia and then turned her questioning gaze towards Tom for answers.

"Yes, Lucretia, she is the one the prophecy foretold about." Hermione feeling light headed again leaned against the altar, "What prophecy Tom?" The Dark Lord looking around the room gestured to his Knights. "They all know about the prophecy. It was given by a great seer 200 years ago." Looking back at Hermione he continued, "When I found out that I was indeed the heir of Salazar Slytherin I took great interest in this prophecy as most people would have."

Hermione whispering softly said, "Tell me about this prophecy, what does it say about me?" As Tom looked at Hermione's beautiful amber colored eyes and full, pouting lips all he wanted to do was kiss her at the moment. It felt like this ritual would never end and his bed was calling for them. Tonight he would make Hermione his lover and fully love her like he had been wanting to.

"The prophecy love, please?" Hermione pleaded for the knowledge she was desperately seeking.

Taking Hermione's hand in his, he said, "I know this prophecy by heart, it says…"

He, who was born from the Slytherin blood,

holds the most power and skill.

The Slytherin heir shall be gifted with a mate

of equal power and skill.

As they are bonded, they shall rule and

be graced by the God's blessing.

The two shall create a world

where the superior shall reign and where their child

will someday rule supreme.

As Tom finished telling Hermione about the prophecy she could hardly breathe. With the bonding completed, half of the prophecy had already come to pass. With all of the changes in her life she was powerless to stop the tide. The bigger problem was that she wasn't sure that she wanted to stop the prophecy from coming true, especially after what had happened tonight.

"Knights, this part of the initiation is almost complete for tonight. All that is left is for Hermione to receive her assignments to complete tasks three through five; Sacrifice, Cunning and especially for her, the use of her great intelligence." Looking around the room full of Knights, Hermione wondered if there were any that doubted her or the Dark Lord. Did they really believe in her great intelligence? Would they accept her as an equal partner to their Dark Lord?

Reaching out to turn Hermione's face back to his he explained, "For the sacrifice, you will need to decide something or someone that you hold dear. You must eliminate them or it all for the good in the name of the Knights." Hermione's eyes got very big when she realized she was looking at the thing she held most dear in 1944; it was him, Tom, the Dark Lord. That was why she was here in 1944 to do away with him, but the scenario had changed so much the past few months. Paying attention again she heard Tom explain more, "The task to use your cunning and intelligence will require you to hunt down something I desire to own, Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem. I must," he overemphasized the _must_ part, "have the Diadem as part of our quest to rule over the impure and reign supreme as purebloods."

Hermione's brain was swirling at the thought of researching about the Diadem and working on such a task. Tom laughed out loud when he saw the look on Hermione's face. Some of the Knights were taken aback to see the Dark Lord smiling and laughing during one of the Knights rituals. All present had observed how Hermione had changed the Dark Lord, but they also were aware that she was becoming someone to reckon with and not to cross.

"I knew that this task would be to your liking and more so, be something that you will be successful with. This initiation ritual is now completed." All of the Knights bowed down together on one knew as the Dark Lord started to leave. Pulling Hermione up he said, "Come Hermione, we have more business between us tonight." As Tom and Hermione left the room, Alphard and Abraxas just grinned at one another as they knew what business Tom had planned for Hermione.

"Tom, why do I have to wear this blindfold?" Hermione whined at Tom.

"Because my love, I don't want you to know where I am taking you." If Hermione could have rolled her eyes she would have. "Don't you love it when I state the obvious?" Tom asked in a teasing voice.

"Now would probably not be a good time for snarkiness would it?" Hermione teased back.

"Not when I am leading you around blindfolded, no!" Tom squeezed her hand. "Anyhow, we are here." Hermione felt herself being led into a room. As the blindfold was taken off, Hermione looked around her. The room was beautifully decorated in silver, dark green and plum colors. A table was set with a roast chicken, potatoes and salad for dinner. A fine wine was set out ready to consume. A roaring fire was burning in the fireplace, warming the room. A comfortable looking couch was placed in front of the fire. Off in the corner was a huge four-poster, King Size bed. As Hermione looked around the room in awe, she felt very special. Somehow Tom had arranged all of this for her. Looking around again, she figured that this was probably the Room of Requirement, having used it many times herself in the future.

To gather her attention back to him, Tom grasped her in his arms tightly and swung her around the room. "I knew Hermione, I just knew it," he said as he slid her down the front of him.

"Knew what Tom?" Hermione asked wading in the aura of good feelings and love floating around the room.

Kissing the top of her head he replied softly, "I knew you were the one from the prophecy," he stated firmly, "Within a matter of a few days, watching you and listening to you. I just knew you were going to be mine." Hermione snuggled as close to Tom as she could by wrapping her arms tightly around Tom's torso. "Come Hermione, there is a wonderful meal that I had prepared and I am famished." Tom led Hermione to her seat at the decorated table.

"Yes, I'm sure you are. Casting the Cruciatis Curse eight times really takes a lot out you doesn't it?" Hermione said brazenly. Tom shooting his characteristic eyebrow skyward gave Hermione a threatening glare. "Hermione… I really wouldn't go there if I were you."

"But I do want an answer If I am to be your mate, your equal, then you need to treat me as such," she said as she defended her line of questioning. Tom picked up his spoon and tapped at his glass of wine. Now it was Hermione's turn to stare back at him with a menacing glare.

"Ok, Hermione, I will tell you why," he said as he pointed his spoon at her, "You are stronger than you think you are and I needed to prove it to you and the Knights." Tom picked up his fork and started to eat his chicken. "Mmm, this almost tastes as good as you," he said suggestively. Hermione, not able to stay angry with him after that comment and watching the way he ran his tongue over his lips; stood up and took her heavy, green robes off. As the robes hit the floor so did Tom's fork. As he looked Hermione up and down he realized that the chicken would have to wait. "Bloody Hell woman; why didn't someone tell me that you had nothing on under those robes," Tom croaked out as he eyed her hungrily.

Quickly rushing to Hermione he scooped her up in his arms and dropped her onto the King sized bed. Uttering a quick disrobing spell, Tom, like Hermione, lay naked and wanting on the bed. As Tom crawled on the bed towards Hermione, she scooted backwards towards the pillows. As he crawled towards her he looked like a tiger stalking its prey. This time, Hermione was unafraid and wanting Tom as much as he wanted her. She needed all of him tonight. Feeling the full length of Tom's body pressing down into hers she pressed back with equal fervor. As Tom was raining kisses down the side of Hermione's neck, she was rubbing small circles up and down Tom's back. Every touch and every movement only intensified their senses. There was no doubt in either of their minds that tonight their love would be consummated; just how quickly and how many times were the questions still to be answered that night.

"I never ever thought I would feel as strongly about someone as I do you, my love," said Tom as he placed kisses on her collarbone; then swirling his tongue down her chest and around each breast; finally stopping to pluck a sweet nipple into his mouth. As he sucked on one breast and then feasting on the other he looked up at Hermione, "I told you that you tasted better than the chicken."

He winked at Hermione as he tickled her sensitive nipples with his locks of hair. "I think I am still hungry though." Then Tom conjured up a jar of sweet, chocolate syrup. Hermione with her interest piqued watched Tom as he dribbled chocolate syrup over each breast and especially covering her nipples. "Oh, that's so cold and it tickles," Tom, leaning down covered her breast with his mouth and licked and sucked up the syrup with long, sensuous strokes. "Does it still tickle?" he asked as he licked his lips. Hermione could only give him a deep moan as he once again consumed his dessert on her other breast.

Once again he picked up the jar of syrup and trickled a stream of chocolate down her sternum, to her belly and to her womanhood. Tom, acting as if this was his last supper, was partaking of every drop of syrup that had landed on Hermione's skin. As he stopped to lap the stickiness out of her navel, Hermione wiggled around wanting to get her hands on the chocolate. "No, Hermione, hold still." he grinned at her, "It's not your turn yet."

He once again started to lick a trail down her body until he came to the crème de la crème of his feast. As he spread Hermione's legs wide he settled in between them and finding her soft spot, he licked and stroked until Hermione was bucking against his mouth. Not letting her down for a moment he sucked softly on her clit, as the bud grew wider, sending shock waves through Hermione. As he plunged two 

fingers inside of Hermione, pumping in and out, he continued to favor attention on Hermione's super sensitive spot that soon sent her in waves of orgasmic ecstasy. Tom, feeling great satisfaction, watched as Hermione moaned his name as wave after wave of orgasm rippled throughout her body.

Looking up at Tom, she made eye contact with him and said, "Oh Tom, I like chocolate so much better on the outside of my body than inside." And then she giggled wildly as she noticed Tom had chocolate spread from ear to ear. "Come here my lover, I need to help you clean up from your dessert." Tom climbed back up the bed and leaned in to kiss Hermione's mouth. She sucked his lips loving the taste of chocolate and her on his lips. Scooting and sitting up she demanded, "On your back, my Lord, it's time for my dessert." Hermione noticed the eyebrow shooting up but Tom complied and lay down as Hermione straddled him around his waist. Taking the jar of chocolate syrup in her hand she stuck her pointer finger in the syrup and drew it out, sticking it in her mouth. Slowly she sucked on her finger and licked all around her finger. Once again, she inserted her finger into the syrup. Once again she lavished attention on her finger, but this time she started moving up and down on Tom each time she took a stroke of chocolate into her mouth.

Before long, Tom was moaning, "Woman, you are killing me here," Hermione innocently asked, "Aren't you enjoying the show? I thought you would be happy to see me enjoying my dessert." Growling a little he complained, "I would enjoy it more if you were licking that chocolate off of something else you vixen." Hermione, looking contemplative, tapped her fingers on her lips, "Let's see, what else could I deluge with chocolate, then slowly lick around and around and up and down to finally consume all of the chocolate." She mused. Underneath her, Hermione could feel Tom's length hardening and growing and she scooted backwards and dribbled the chocolate over the full length of his cock. Tom rose to his elbows and watched Hermione with great anticipation as she looked up and grinned, and then she stuck out her tongue and licked her own lips. Tom just groaned, "Oh, no more teasing," and Hermione noticed his member twitching. Then quickly she leaned down and took a long swipe along the length of him. Again, she swiped the underside of his cock and then finally, taking as much of him into her mouth as she could, she satisfied Tom and soon he was coming in her mouth.

Taking charge again, he slid her underneath him and he preceded to kiss every spot on Hermione's body that he felt needed some attention. Soon, Hermione was wanting more than kisses and so was Tom again. "Are you ready to be mine; I feel like we have waited for so long," said Tom breathlessly, Hermione spreading her legs wide said, "Please, now, I don't want to wait anymore. I have never ached for something so much as I have to feel you inside of me." Hearing Hermione gasp out those words Tom drove himself inside her wetness. Filling her fully he thrust in and out while Hermione wrapped her legs firmly around Tom's waist. Moving together in perfect rhythm, Tom plunged himself into his love until they both were ready to burst wide open. Hermione came first as she contracted around Tom's length and soon he came to, filling her with his seed as he collapsed on top of her.

"Now that was the best dessert I have ever partaken of," said Tom, kissing Hermione softly on her swollen lips. "When can I have some more?" he asked in his husky voice. With very dreamy eyes and a little wantonness, Hermione said, "Any time that you want." It was that statement, Hermione surmised, that brought the biggest smile she had ever seen on Tom Riddle's face.


	8. Chapter 8: Mulling it Over

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own JKR's characters. I am using them for awhile in my own little world. 

Chapter 8: Mulling it Over

Stretching languidly and sighing contentedly, Hermione rolled over to realize she wasn't in her own bed. Looking around and remembering last night made Hermione smile and shake her head at the same time. It was hard to believe that it really had all happened last night: being Crucio'ed eight times, the bonding taking place with Tom within the Eternal Flames and making love with Tom for the first time. Yes, she was still sticky all over, evidence that the chocolate sex play had occurred. Giggling, she realized that she would never look at or eat chocolate the same after last night's activities. Licking chocolate off of your lover's body did leave a lasting impression in your mind.

Speaking of her lover, Hermione looked around and noticed that he was nowhere to be found in the Room of Requirement. Where was Tom and why wasn't he still in bed? Hermione was hoping that just the two of them could spend more time together. With Tom being both Head Boy and the Dark Lord, his attention was always needed by someone whether for good or evil. Hermione wondered when she had gotten so possessive of Tom. Looking down at the Eternal Flame tattoo on her right palm, she knew it had happened even before last night's ritual ceremony.

Deep in thought, staring at her tattoo, Hermione didn't hear Tom come back into the room. When he had entered the room he felt as if a vision of pure loveliness met his eyes. Hermione sitting up in bed, with a head full of tousled, curly hair, bed sheet around her waist with firm, perky breasts on display. Most importantly was the look of utter contentment as she sat looking down at her hand.

Slowly dropping down onto the bed, Hermione quickly looked up, "Where have you been so early this morning?" giving him one of her beautiful smiles.

"For one thing, it is not morning, it's 2:00 p.m., and for the second thing I went to get you something," said Tom mysteriously.

Hermione's eyes lit up, "What did you bring me?" she asked bouncing up and down.

Tom distracted, didn't answer because of the full-bosom display bouncing in front of him. "Eyes up here," Hermione laughed as she lifted Tom's chin up with two fingers.

"You know you always seem to find a way to distract me, "said Tom. "Close your eyes for a moment, "he instructed. "Ok, open them." In front of her Tom held a white rose. But this was no ordinary rose; it was tainted with droplets of blood. Hermione was speechless at the gift.

"Well, aren't you going to scream and giggle insensibly like all of the other girls when their fellow presents them with a flower?" Hermione looking a little gob smacked blurted out, "I think most girls don't get flowers with blood dripping off of them, "she said with huge eyes. "I am sure that there is a story behind the flower; care to share?" she asked in her own sarcastic way.

"Ever the inquisitive bookworm, aren't we?" he asked seriously. "I would expect nothing less of you ever, though, and I like it that way," Tom said smiling. "This white rose symbolizes you, Hermione, before your initiation. It indicates your previous innocent life you have led." Tom watched Hermione as she sat twirling the rose in her fingertips.

"What about the blood, Tom?" asked Hermione watching the droplets of blood sliding down the petals of the delicate rose.

"The blood on the rose indicates that the innocent part of your life ended last night after the happenings that occurred during the ritual," Tom explained as he also stared at the blood stained rose.

"Ouch!" Hermione pulled back suddenly as the thorn on the rose pierced her skin. Before Hermione could stick her finger in her mouth, Tom grabbed her finger. Pinching the wound, more blood started seeping out. Hermione looked at Tom wondering what bizarre thing was running through his mind to warrant this action.

"Your blood has changed since last night, Hermione," Tom's piercing eyes bore into hers. Oh Gods, Hermione thought, looking down, had Tom figured out the truth about her being a mudblood? Quickly pushing that thought to the farthest corner of her mind she looked back at Tom. He lifted her hand up to his mouth and stuck her wounded finger into his mouth. Tom slowly sucked the blood off of her finger.

"Once our blood mingled, you became a Knight; someone ready to serve with much power and devotion to me," Tom said in a cocky voice. "That is all that this flower symbolizes," he finished by kissing the tattoo on Hermione's palm. "They are rather exceptional, aren't they; our gift from the Gods?"

Slowly Tom kissed her wrist, and then snail-like he dragged kisses up her arm to her shoulder, worshipping each inch of skin as he ventured upward. Finally, his lips found the full, soft lips of Hermione.

Tom's mind was amazingly drifting a bit. He was thinking how his weakness, Hermione, was actually going to turn into his strength, according to the prophecy. She is what he needed right now. How and when this had happened exactly would truly be hard to pinpoint in his mind. He had never needed anything in his life. He had always been in control of every aspect dealing with his life happenings. Tom had never shown any weaknesses attached to him ever, until now in the form of this beautiful woman lying in his arms. He had taken many women in his bed for purely physical release. Tom had never loved any of them or anyone before. Bloody hell, he wouldn't even say that he loved Hermione! He just knew that he needed Hermione for many reasons. She was the witch foretold of in the prophecy, she was powerful and smart, he knew that she would find the Diadem for him and most importantly, Hermione would give birth to his child. Tom did not think that he was capable of loving anyone, but he could show that he cared for her. He would do what he needed to do so as to keep Hermione happy and on his side; that was his last thought before he slipped off his clothes and slid back on Hermione.

Later that evening, found Tom entering the Slytherin common room searching for Hermione. "Cor, have any of you lot seen Hermione?"

Lucretia who was watching Abraxas and Radbourne in a heated match of Wizards Chess, looked over at Tom.

"Bugger, lost your woman again, have you?" she smiled sweetly at Tom. He reached down and softly squeezed Lucretia's neck, "I haven't lost her love, she just slipped away after dinner."

Abraxas looking up commented, "My best guess would be to look in the library. You know Hermione."

Tom nodding his head in agreement said, "Hmm, you are correct. She did say earlier she needed to start her research. "

Radbourne concentrating on the game he was playing said casually, "So how was your evening with Hermione?"

Placing his hand on his chest, Tom said dramatically, "A gentleman never shares his secrets; especially about his time spent with his woman."

Lucretia pouting said, "Can't you tell just a little?" she said running her fingers up and down Tom's arm.

"Ok," Tom said with a grin, "We had a smashing good time from the beginning to the end."

Abraxas snickering said, "Yes, I'm sure that you did have a smashing good time, but, Tom my boy, we want details," he said smirking at him. "Oh bleeding hell, Lestrange! That is the second time today you have beat me in Wizards Chess with that same move," Abraxas said angrily.

"Just because you always seem to be distracted doesn't make me responsible for your loss," said Radbourne dryly.

Tom stood up to leave, "Enjoy your evening, my friends. I am off to the library in search of my little book worm. "They all bid Tom farewell.

After he left Radbourne said, "What is really going on in the Dark Lord's mind as of late?"

Shaking his head Abraxas said, "No one will ever know; not even our sweet Hermione will get that privilege." Looking up he asked, "Are you ready for round three, Lestrange?" With a nod and a grin from Radbourne, Lucretia groaned and exclaimed, "I am tired of your games, boys, "she started walking away, "Maybe I can find a man who would rather play with me," and Lucretia huffed off.

Abraxas met Radbourne's eyes, 'She'll be back in about 30 minutes. "

Grinning, Radbourne said, I know; now concentrate."

Hermione sat at her table, in her corner of the library. She had claimed her spot as soon as the Time Turner had landed her in 1944. This was the area where her best studying happened; it had worked in the future and it was now working in 1944. Spread before Hermione, on the table, was almost every book in the library that mentioned Rowena Ravenclaw. The stodgy librarian, Madam Pince, was not thrilled when Hermione made the request for 48 books; 25 from the Restricted Section. With Professor Dumbledore's help, she was able to get a yearlong pass into the restricted section. Now, she had been in the library for 2 ½ hours and only had minimal information. She was sure that Tom had probably already found this same information.

Staring straight ahead she looked at the table across the room. The boy sitting there had black, unruly hair, which was so familiar. He wore a set of glasses that framed a friendly face. The thing that had surprised her the most was the smile so similar to Harry's smile. Of course, when she had met Charlus Potter, she knew that she was being introduced to Harry's grandfather. She hadn't really been able to get to know him because of the crowd she was associated with. A part of her wanted to talk to him, just so she would feel close to Harry again. Charlus looked over at Hermione and grinned at her, but the grin faded quickly and he looked down straight away at his book Hermione found that odd until she felt someone snuggling her from behind. Tom slipped his hands down Hermione's chest and cupped her breasts.

Embarrassed Hermione said, "Tom, not in the library," as this was a sacrilege to her.

Tom sat down next to Hermione, "Why not, love? I'm sure that there are many things, besides studying, that we could do in the library."

With a horrified look on her face Hermione asked, "Besides studying? What else does one do in the library, silly?"

Tom scooted even closer to Hermione, "Let's see, we could hold hands," he said and took Hermione's small hand in his large hand. "Then we could do a little of this," and Tom took Hermione's head, pulled it close to him and kissed her soundly on the lips. After a nice snog, he said, "Then come here, my love," and he led her into the Restricted Section. Backing her up against the far wall, he lifted her legs up and fitted them around his waist. With her arms around his neck he said, "or maybe some of this," and he thrust against her. Struggling against him, Hermione whispered, "Not now, Tom, someone may see us." Tom realizing that it was a hopeless cause set Hermione down. Hermione took Tom's hand, "Let's go back to the table, I have something to show you. It is about my assignment."

Tom, now expressing interest, cautiously asked, "What have you found, Hermione?"

Hermione, who did not want to disappoint Tom stated, "You probably already know what I have found. "

"Go on," Tom encouraged her, "we can discuss what you have found.

Hermione licking her dry lips said, "It is a well known fact that Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem went missing. Because of the famous quote found on the Diadem_, __Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure_, it is a probable conclusion that someone stole the Diadem to use its power to gain wisdom."

Tom having already come to the same conclusion as Hermione, long ago, wanted her analysis. "So who would want the Diadem's power so badly that they would resort to stealing it?" asked Tom probing for her answer.

"Well, besides you, "she grinned, "I conclude that it was someone close to Rowena who knew fully of the power that the Diadem held." Tom nodded back as he heard Hermione surmise her findings.

"Tom, I just have one question, "she asked searching Tom's face, "What is the real reason that you want the Diadem? You are already intelligent enough without it." A look of uneasiness came across Tom's face; he wasn't ready yet to unveil to Hermione all about the Horcruxes he was creating. Hermione from her side already knew all about the Horcruxes and was testing Tom to see how much he really trusted her.

After a minute of silence Hermione stood and facing Tom she leaned down, "Tom, I know that this was the task given to me. I would have more motivation if you would only trust me with the real reason you want to acquire the Diadem."

Standing up, Tom now looked down at Hermione, "It's not a matter of trust, Hermione; it's a matter of my life." Without saying good-bye to Hermione, Tom turned and left the library. Hermione whispered softly to herself, "Your life is in my hands whether you know it not."

As Hermione headed back to the Slytherin common room she was still reading one of her books from the library. With her nose settled firmly in the book, she suddenly ran into what seemed like a brick wall. Landing unceremoniously on her bottom, her books flying everywhere, she looked up to see what she had hit. There in front of Hermione stood a young version of Hagrid.

"Oh my, miss, I couldn' see you fer that book in your face," said a bewildered Hagrid. Hermione on her part was startled to see a young, beardless Hagrid standing in front of her. One part of her wanted to run away so Hagrid, in the future, wouldn't see her as Tom Riddle's girlfriend and the other part of her wanted to fling herself into his arms and beg him to keep her safe.

"Oh it was my fault. I am terribly sorry, Hagrid," Hermione looked at him shyly.

Hagrid looking puzzled asked, "How do you know me name and some'un like me?"

Hermione thinking fast said," Aren't you the assistant to the gamekeeper?"

Hagrid accepting that answer said, "Never bin introduced to you, "

Stepping forward and offering her hand to Hagrid she said, "I am Hermione MacMillan, a distant relative of Professor Dumbledore."

"I didn'a know Professor Dumbledore had many relatives around," said a surprised Hagrid.

"Well it was nice to meet you, Hagrid," said Hermione and then scurried away as fast as she could. Turning the corner, she put her hand to her chest to catch her breath and feel her heart hammering quickly. A feeling of dread crept through her as she realized that Hagrid would be in her category of someone she cared about. By all means possible she would have to keep this fact hidden from Tom. What a bad day to encounter two people; first Charlus Potter and then Hagrid, which she cared about. She cared about Hagrid because he was an old friend and for Charlus, as he was the grandfather of her best friend. Hermione had gone from thinking besides Tom; there was absolutely no one she cared enough about in 1944 to sacrifice, to two people that would be considerations to complete her task.

In the silent hallway Hermione stood as the tears slid down her cheeks and fell on her school robes. With a racing mind and heart she tried to think of a way out of this part of the initiation. Who could she sacrifice in the name of the Knights? How could she choose between Hagrid who had always been there for her Harry and Ron, or Charlus who through his line Harry would come. Harry who would be born and then die saving the wizarding world from her….oh Gods, from her lover. Crumbling to the floor, Hermione had never felt this helpless. Always before she had an answer and knew how to deal with any situation. But now, there were no easy answers. Feebly standing, she gathered her things and continued on to the Slytherin dungeons.

Standing at the door to the Slytherin common room, Hermione hurriedly wiped away her tears. As she walked through the doors Tom, sitting on the couch, noticed Hermione's red eyes and dour look on her face. Hermione noticed the concerned look on Tom's face. She really didn't want to be around him right now when she was feeling so emotionally vulnerable.

"Hermione, what happened to you?" he stood and came over to her. Engulfing her tightly in his arms, Hermione hugged him back.

"I'm fine, Tom; just have a niggling doubt about my finishing the third task," Hermione mumbled into Tom's chest.

Looking down at Hermione he leaned back to look in her eyes, "Listen to me, love; I have no doubt that you will succeed at every task," he said. "Don't doubt yourself, I won't let you," Tom said as he held Hermione's chin in his hand.

Nodding with a half smile Hermione said, "I will do what I need to do, Tom, don't worry." However, Hermione's thoughts were full of doubt and worry while her insides were twisted in knots.

Don't forget to review! I love hearing from you!

Here is a picture of Hermione's rose:

**skocz.pl/Hermione**

Thank you _somebodyinthedark_ for finding the flower for me.


	9. Chapter 9: The Note

This chapter was a fun one to write...but hard at the same time! Thank you _Nicole _for the feedback and beta work. Thank you _curseweaver_ for all of your feedback you gave me with this chapter. I appreciate all of you that are following this story and reviewing! There is a lot more to come, but enjoy chapter 9!

Chapter 9:The Note

Bright and early Sunday morning Hermione was woken up by a loud popping sound. Opening her eyes slowly she looked up to see two bulbous eyes staring at her. Screaming, Hermione sat up in her bed and pulled the covers up tight around her. Lucretia who had been sound asleep in the next bed, also woke up at the sound.

"Miss MacMillan, I's a note for you," said the tiny house elf handing the cream colored note to Hermione. The elf disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.

"Who is it from, Hermione?" questioned Lucretia.

"I don't know, the house elf didn't say," Looking down at the envelope Hermione opened it and took out the note. Lucretia watched Hermione's face as she read the note. Hermione's face went beet red and her eyes lit up with fire.

"Who would send something like this?" she said as she threw the letter on the floor.

Lucretia reached down to retrieve the note to read it out loud, "Hermione, I know what happened on Friday night. You need to watch your step. I am watching. You are not as powerful as you think. I know your weaknesses."

Hermione sputtered, "Who do you think wrote this note?"

Lucretia shrugged her shoulders, "I just think it's someone trying to play on your nerves." She crumpled up the note and threw it back on the ground.

Picking up the squashed note, Hermione angrily said," I should probably let Tom read this. He will be able to figure out if this is a real threat or just someone playing games." She stood up and stormed away to shower and dress for the day.

Tom and his Inner Circle of men were already eating breakfast in the Great Hall when Hermione and Lucretia arrived. Tom knew something was wrong with Hermione when he looked at her. She was wearing a black, straight dull dress with her hair scraped back in a tight ponytail and had a distressed look on her face. The problem was Lucretia was wearing the same distressed look on her face. Tom elbowed Abraxas roughly who was shoveling waffles in his mouth

He gave Tom a dirty look, and with waffles and syrup running down his chin, he grumbled, "What did you do that for?"

Tom in a very low voice said, "Look at the girls, mate, something is not right."

Abraxas, now noticing the flustered looks of the girls, said, "Calm down," he cautioned feeling Tom's rage growing, "let's wait until we hear from them to see what is wrong."

Sitting down slowly, Hermione glanced over at Tom and their eyes met. The worried look Hermione gave Tom, instead of her normal smile, only added to his agitated manner. With a heavy breath, Hermione took out a crinkled piece of paper and handed it to Tom.

"What's this, Hermione?" Tom asked through gritted teeth.

"Read it," Hermione said so softly he could hardly hear her. The inner circle watched as Tom read the note and noticing him becoming more livid.

"Who gave this to you, Hermione?"

"I don't know Tom," Hermione said quietly, "A house elf delivered it to me."

Tom once again crinkled the poor note in his hand, "Incendio," he cast his wand at the vile note.

Quickly Radbourne cast, "Aguamenti" and doused the flames. "Tom, don't draw attention to yourself," advised Alphard nodding towards the head table. Headmaster Dippet was craning his neck to see what was going on at the Slytherin table.

Tom leaning down to the center of the table instructed, "Meeting now with the inner circle; you know where." Tom left, grabbing Hermione's hand on the way out and dragging her through the door and down the hall.

"Slow down, Tom, that hurts." Hermione said rubbing her wrist. "I am not a rag doll for you to drag around on a whim."

Tom stopped and turned on Hermione, "I am really outraged about this!" He shouted loudly.

"Don't you think I am upset about this too?" Hermione yelled back. "This note is threatening me, not you," she said growing just as infuriated as Tom was.

"They are threatening me also if they threaten you," said Tom shaking his fists in a rage.

"What am I supposed to do Tom? What?" Hermione exasperated turned and started running down the hall leaving a very frustrated Tom to figure out how to deal with a despondent Hermione.

The water felt so warm and comforting; like a woolen blanket on a cold night. As she laid her head back in the water she let the water completely cover her face. It felt good not breathing for awhile. It helped dull the fear and pain overtaking her soul. Coming up for air with a gasp, she felt the long lean body of Tom wrench Hermione to him.

"You bloody fool!" Tom spurted out in a strangled voice. "I have been looking everywhere for you." His arms went fully around her and he kissed the top of her wet head. "When you didn't show up for the Knights meeting…I…you worried all of us unnecessarily," Tom said trying not to show how concerned he was.

"I didn't feel like going and discussing something that there are no answers for," Hermione looked at Tom.

"How do you know we found no answers?" inquired Tom, "Every problem has a solution; especially if it concerns you." Hermione stared down at the water and felt her chin being lifted up.

"Anyhow, my Moja Kochana, you said you wanted to be there when things were decided concerning you," Tom smirked at her.

"That is not fair, Tom, and you know it," she glared at him. "Did you lose your clothes on the way to the prefect's bathroom, my Lord?" Hermione asked sassily.

"Well aren't you the little hypocrite, my nymph?" Tom answered back. "You should know better that there are no spells that would keep me from where I want to go and where I belong. How did you get in here?"

Winking at Tom she put a finger to her lips, "Shhhh" and she avoided answering the question, "Please tell me you warded and locked the door?" asked Hermione

"Of course, "Tom purred back, "I didn't want to be disturbed when I am with my Lady," Tom bent down kissing Hermione slowly and thoroughly.

As two pairs of hands explored backs, chests and stomachs, Hermione teased, "So you aren't here for a quick swim on this lazy Sunday evening?"

Tom bending down kissed her full breasts worshipping the round globes, "It hadn't even crossed my mind," and he lifted her legs to wrap around his waist.

"We aren't in the library so I thought we could continue what I started there the other day with a little bit of this," and he thrust against Hermione's center.

With light laughter tinkling the air Hermione said, "Yes, a little bit of that might make me feel much better," and she reached down and nipped at Tom's shoulder.

Looking up at Tom his eyes met hers and she felt entirely safe. When had the whole world been turned upside down on its axis; she would never know. The person she should be the most frightened of was providing a sanctuary for her in her time of need.

Closing the gap, so there was no space left in between; Hermione lifted up and slid on Tom's hardened shaft. Shifting up and down, with closed eyes, she made good use of the lubrication the water provided. Tom teased the tips of her breasts with his tongue and Hermione felt that she was losing any sense of control. Hermione twisted and writhed as she felt Tom move inside of her. Slowly, she felt the building up of that wonderful pressure that would soon ripple in her release. As they joined together in such sweet union, the outside world ceased to exist; no threatening note, no Knights and no assignments to complete. At this moment, it was all about two lovers stoking the fires of desire inside of each other.

Tom locked eyes with Hermione, "I love to look into your eyes when you come." Their bodies continued moving together in a wonderful rhythm. Hermione's release soon came as it vibrated through her whole body.

Hermione cried out, "Oh Gods, I love this…oh I love…oh" and she settled back as waves of fire rushed throughout her body. Tom gripping Hermione's body tightly, felt himself burst as he spilled his seed deep inside of her.

As he came down from his high he covered Hermione's eyes, nose and cheeks with light kisses. "I am going to do everything within my power, which is great, to keep you safe," and he ran his tongue over her lips.

Reaching up to touch his face she nodded her head, "I know, Tom, I know," and she laid her head on Tom's shoulder as he held her tightly in his arms.

It was late as they crept down the hallway and back to the Slytherin common room. All that was moving were the flames from a low burning fire.

"I'm surprised no one is still up?" Hermione looked around the common room.

Giving a low laugh Tom said quietly, "It is almost 3:00 a.m., love. You need to hurry off to bed." He playfully pushed her down the hall.

Standing at her bedroom door Hermione challenged Tom, "I think I will be defeating you tomorrow," she teased, "I thought that it would be fair to warn you."

With a smirk and a cock of the head Tom replied, "If I didn't know better I would think you were drunk or delusional."

With an irritated glare Hermione didn't answer back.

"You may be my woman, "Tom smugly stated," but there is no way in hell that you will ever win this duel," Tom said coolly.

Poking a finger roughly in Tom's chest she murmured," You are a pompous ass, Tom Riddle!" Hermione turned and walked into her room, slamming the door in a disgruntled Tom's face.

The DADA classroom was full of bodies, some whispering, but not all that really belonged there. The whole school knew that the big duel between the Head Boy and his girlfriend would be taking place today. If possible, the Great Hall would have been a more fitting place for the duel in order to accommodate all that wanted to witness the duel.

Tom, nonchalantly, was sitting by his mates waiting for Hermione to come to class.

"Where is she, Tom?" asked Alphard. "Do you scare her that much that she ran off to hide?"

Tom shaking his head calmly answered, "She's not scared. She will be here."

Professor Merrythought walked over and asked Tom, "Do you know where Miss MacMillan is?"

Tom shaking his head, once again commented, "She will be here, Professor; especially because she thinks that she will win,' and sneering he added, "But we all know she won't."

Wide eyed Professor Merrythought was startled at Tom's answer and his attitude. While all of Tom's inner circle just laughed and beamed at their leader's confidence.

Professor Dumbledore, coming to view the match, walked by, "Overconfidence can sometimes bring about the downfall of the greatest competitor." Tom growled under his breath wanting to hex the great Dumbledore.

The classroom door suddenly opened with a bang and in walked Hermione followed by Lucretia, Amanda and Clarice. With her long hair in wavy curls, Hermione was wearing the dark, green robes she had adorned the night of her initiation. Seeing the look on her face, they all knew that Hermione was here for a fight. Those who had assumed she was too scared to show up knew right then it was a fallacy.

Turning to Professor Merrythought Hermione announced, "Let's get started." She went to the front of the room standing with a staunch look on her face. Tom wasn't sure whether to be amused or irritated at Hermione's behavior. She was actually acting like she could win this duel. Well it was time for the callous Tom Riddle to show up today and prove for once and for all who was the best dueler; in fact, the most powerful wizard here at Hogwarts. Taking his place he smirked over at Hermione who only glared back. To the average on looker, one would never know that the two fierce competitors were also lovers.

Hermione raised her eyebrow and reached up and started unbuttoning the green robes. At that instance Tom knew Hermione was here to play dirty. As the robe fell away from Hermione, Tom's breath left him. Hermione stood there in the most risqué outfit anyone in 1944 wizarding world had ever seen. Hermione was wearing a tiny leather mini skirt in basic black. The high waist and the darts made it fit like a second skin, accentuating every curve. On top she wore a leather bustier with a breakaway halter, held together in front with hook and eyes. On her legs she wore Lycra back seam fishnet hose with silicone lace at the top. On her feet she wore 5" open front ankle boots with lace up ties. Only Lucretia knew she had charmed then so she would be able to move in them as easily as Tom would in his shoes.

Hermione looked around the room at all of the gaping mouths staring at her. She knew she was taking a risk dressing so provocatively, but she wanted to start with the upper hand in this match with Tom or she knew she would never stand a chance. Gazing back at Tom she knew that her plan was working. Not only did his face reveal what he thought about Hermione's get-up, but their close connection gave away the intense desire Tom felt for Hermione at that moment.

"Oh bollocks, Hermione!" Tom grunted out, "What kind of a game are you playing at today?"

Hermione just grinned back at Tom," It's time to duel, love; nothing more, nothing less."

Tom just snorted and shook his head, "You will see how wrong you are about everything."

Hermione looked at Tom and motioned him over with her pointer finger, "I have two words for you Tom, piss off!" pushing Tom away, she stepped back.

Tom wanting to grab her and turn her over his knee for a good paddling, just walked back to his spot.

"This will be a fair duel, you two," Professor Merrythought said firmly, no high jinks, do you hear me?"

Both Hermione and Tom nodded in the affirmative at their Professor.

As soon as Professor Merrythought sat down Hermione was heard shouting out, "Everte Statum." Tom immediately yelled out, "Protego."

Tom aimed his wand, "Stupefy." and Hermione leapt aside to avoid Tom's spell.

Hermione then sent out, "Petrificus Totalus." and the spell zipped by him. Hermione angry that nothing was connecting to stop Tom tried to summon all of her magic for this one task in order to defeat him.

At the same time, Tom was getting frustrated that so far he hadn't even stunned Hermione. It was time to teach Hermione a lesson or two. "Flipendo." Tom called out and Hermione was knocked backwards off her feet into the wall. As Hermione's head connected with the wall, her anger started bubbling up inside of her. Quickly jumping to her feet she shot off a stream of light yelling ,"Impedimenta" and hit Tom square in the chest.

Abraxas jumped out of his seat seeing that Tom was in trouble. As he started to raise his wand Lucretia swatted Abraxas' arm, "Not fair, you git," she said hotly, "it's their fight, not yours."

Abraxas glared back at Lucretia, "Oh sodding hell, women," he spat back, "Hermione can't win this duel. It will make the Dark Lord look weak."

Lucretia looked back at him, "if he is as powerful as we all think, then let this play itself out," she ended slugging Abraxas in the arm. "Ow!" Abraxas said sending a murderous glare in Lucretia's direction.

Dumbledore observing the match from the back of the classroom, smiled as he watched. He knew enough about Hermione's background that he was assured this would be an entertaining duel. He also could feel the magical energy flying around the room coming from the two duelers. He would be delighted to see Hermione conquer Tom today.

Tom summoning the dark magic that resided in him uttered "Finite Incantatum," and threw off Hermione's spell. Sneering at the beautiful woman in front of him, he knew what his next move would be, "Diffindo" and he hurled the cutting spell towards Hermione.

Hermione had felt the dark magic rising from Tom's inner core. She knew something major was coming from him and had seen Tom raising his wand and heard him whisper, "Diffindo". Hermione trying to avoid the spell jumped sideways onto a nearby desk. Not moving as quickly as she had wanted to, the slicing hex had cut into her calf muscle. Gasps of shock went up throughout the room as the blood ran down Hermione's leg and onto her boot.

Professor Merrythought stood up and started walking to the front of the room. He was stopped by a hand on his arm, "Don't interrupt them," Dumbledore whispered to him.

"But this is going farther than what school rules dictate," Professor Merrythought said.

Headmaster Dippet eavesdropping butted in," This is the best duel Hogwarts has seen in a century," he said excitedly, "This match is continuing."

Hermione meanwhile was trying to remember the spell Tom had used to heal her wrists during the initiation. As it came to her she whispered, "Curatio Intus" and her wound healed instantly.

Sitting at the desk Hermione was standing on, Alphard looked up at Hermione, and consequently also up her mini skirt. "Damn, Hermione, where are your knickers?" Alphard shouted out. Hermione mortified and outraged looked down and sent a stinging hex Alphard's way connecting with his arse Tom laughed as he saw Alphard at the receiving end of Hermione's hex.

Jumping off the desk, Hermione landed and sent a stunning spell in Tom's direction. Still laughing at Alphard as he rubbed his arse, he missed Hermione's quick action and flipped to the side and rolled on the floor, narrowly avoiding Hermione's spell. As he rolled, Tom's wand fell out of his hand. Hermione seeing the misplaced wand took advantage of Tom's predicament, "Lacarnum Inflamarae" and she set Tom's robe on fire.

"Accio wand" and Tom's wand flew back into his hand. "Aguamneti", Tom cast quickly to douse the flames burning his robes.

"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Tom shouted out, "Are you trying to kill me?" Looking at Hermione while asking that question he felt she could easily answer that question with a "Yes". She was fed up with Tom and his over confidence and his sneaky spells. Both Tom and Hermione wanted to end this duel and simultaneously they cast their spells. As Hermione was uttering the Confundo charm, Tom with a two second lead yelled out, "Incarcerous." The thick ropes shot out of thin air to wrap around Hermione pinning her arms to her side.

As Hermione's wand clattered to the floor, the duel was over. But to add insult to injury, Tom strutted over to Hermione and grabbed her face, leaned down and kissed her. Tom abruptly stepped back and yelled, "Bugger, Hermione." Everyone could see Tom's bleeding lip where Hermione had just bitten him. Hermione was incensed and with her intensified anger, powerfully released the ropes that bound her. The ropes went flying and hit several students in the room.

As everyone silently watched Tom and Hermione, intently looking at one another, they could feel the strain between the two.

Finally Hermione quietly whispered to Tom, "I can understand you wanting to win this duel, Tom," she took a shuddering breath, "But did you also have to humiliate me?" Tom looking somber, just stared back at Hermione looking deep into her eyes as they misted over.

Hermione lifted her right hand up towards Tom, "I guess this really doesn't mean as much to you as it does to me," Hermione turned, picked up her robes and walked out of the classroom. Tom stood there silently looking down at his Eternal Flames tattoo.

**Remember****to review and let me know what you thought of the duel!**

_Curatio Intushealing within_

There are hard times ahead for Hermione and Tom in chapter 10.


	10. Chapter 10: Never Say You're Sorry

Chapter 10: Never Say You're Sorry

_Author's Chapter Notes:_

_Wow, great feedback from the last chapter. Thanks to all that reviewed. Chapter 10 is the fall out from the duel and a rough patch for Tom and Hermione. _

_Thanks once again goes to the fabulous beta, Nicole! Despite her busy life right now,(Congrats to the graduate!) she got this done for me! :)_

Chapter 10: Never Say You're Sorry

"What's wrong with her?" Tom moodily demanded. "It's been over a week and she still won't talk to me."

"She won't talk to me either," said Alphard shrugging his shoulders.

"You dim-witted eegit", said Abraxas cuffing Alphard on the head, "You looked up her skirt and then announced to all of Hogwarts she wasn't wearing any knickers. You'll be lucky if she ever talks to you again."

Ignoring the side conversation, Tom ranted, "What did she expect that I was going to let her win?" Tom raised his voice in indignation.

"Did she want me to let her win because we are lovers?" Tom continued his angry outburst as he paced across the room. "I am better than her at dueling, "he threw out as he made another stride across the room. "I was even being easy on her"

"Then you need to make it up to her some way," offered Casper Crouch.

"I do not stoop that low," explained Tom, "I will not grovel at her feet," he hissed at Casper.

"Then you just better get used to a cold, empty bed, you arsehole," said Alphard smugly. Grabbing Alphard by his shirt, Tom lifted him from his seat and threw him roughly against the wall.

"You do not talk to me that way," Tom bellowed out, "you will remember your place and who-I –am," Tom glared stonily at Alphard. Tom gripped Alphard's shirt and tie so tightly that Alphard's air was being cut off, turning Alphard a pale grey color. Abraxas and Casper forcibly dragged Tom away and Alphard fell to the floor in an unconscious heap

Abraxas got into Tom's face, "Take care of this problem with Hermione," he boldly demanded to Tom, "You can't go around attacking your loyal followers."

Enraged Tom pushed Abraxas away from him," I will do as I damn well please; I am the Dark Lord."

Abraxas picking himself up off of the floor rubbed the back of his head where it had hit a desk. Tom rushed out of the room fuming while Casper tried to revive Alphard.

Abraxas looked at Casper, "He's like a Muggle bomb ready to explode."

A dismayed Casper agreed, "Yes, but who else is going to be harmed in the crossfire?"

Hermione sat by the lake trying to study. It had been a week since the duel with Tom that had turned into a fiasco. Since then, she had done everything in her power to avoid Tom. Hermione was still so angry with him, that at moments, she could hardly even breathe. All that she really wanted was an apology from him. Hermione knew deep down, that the apology would probably never happen. More and more she was thinking that maybe she should dig out her time turner and head back home or try again for the Marauders time. Hermione loved Tom, but not the Dark Lord.

Hermione started to stand up when she saw a pair of black shoes that happened to be attached to the handsome body of Tom Riddle. Tom looked down at Hermione and noticed the vacant look on her face.

"We need to talk for a minute," Tom demanded as he sat down next to Hermione.

Staring straight ahead Hermione said, "Ok…talk".

Tom noticing Hermione's cold attitude tried to push down the rage he had been feeling earlier. He knew in this instance that showing annoyance would get him nowhere with the stubborn Hermione.

Trudging forward through the tension Tom started, "I just wanted you to know that you were brilliant during our duel." He stopped for a moment; to let what he said to Hermione, sink in. She was actually stunned by his statement. It was not what she had expected him to say.

Looking at Tom she said faintly, "Thank you," and then she looked back at the lake.

As they both sat there quietly, the silence was deafening. Neither Tom nor Hermione knew what to say or if they should say what they were thinking.

Finally Tom spoke, "I'm not sure what else you expect me to say, Hermione." Hermione again sat silently staring at the giant squid thrashing about in the lake. "You can either stay angry with me or let this go." Tom said a little more callously than he should have.

All that met Tom's declaration was more silence from the women sitting next to him. . Tom felt like strangling the obstinate woman who was not making this easy for him. Finally frustrated beyond belief, Tom jumped up and bent down in front of Hermione. Nose to nose he bellowed out, "I told you when I first met you that I never say I am sorry to anyone, not even you!"

Hermione not putting up with Tom's theatrics, stood up swiftly, pushing Tom so hard that he landed on his arse. "Fuck off," she screamed in his face. Tom sat on the ground cussing Hermione back as he watched her run towards the castle.

As soon as Hermione got to her room she opened up her trunk. Rummaging through to the very bottom she reached for her time turner. As she put her hand in the far right corner where she had left it, she felt nothing. All that was there was the red silk cloth that she had wrapped the time turner in. Reaching in again, she felt around all of the corners and again came up with nothing. Getting panicked, she started throwing things haphazardly out of the trunk. Lucretia entered the room as shirts, skirts socks and books were flying in all directions. Hermione was now in hysterics as she couldn't find the time turner anywhere in her trunk.

"Oh Gods, Lucretia; it's gone!" Hermione screamed still flinging things across the room. "I can't find it," she sobbed.

Lucretia ran to Hermione's side grabbing her by the shoulders, "What can't you find, Hermione?"

Still in a frenzy Hermione tried to reach back into her trunk, "It's not there, I can't get another one." Lucretia tried to make sense of what Hermione was voicing, but was having no luck.

Hermione climbed up on her bed, face down, and continued sobbing. Lucretia knew that she wouldn't be able to help Hermione. She left to find the only person that she knew could provide help; Tom.

As Tom stepped into Hermione and Lucretia's room it looked like a tornado had swept through. He found Hermione curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth on the bed. He sat down on the bed and reached out to Hermione and she flinched away from his touch. Desperately trying to keep his cool, Tom once again put his hand on Hermione's shoulder. This time she didn't flinch, but stopped rocking and sat up. As she hugged her knees to her chest the tears started falling again. In a bolder move Tom stretched his arms around Hermione and she collapsed in his arms. Tom tried to distinguish what he was feeling for Hermione right now. It was sympathy, but was such a foreign feeling to him; he did not know how to recognize it. He held her until the crying stopped.

"It's gone, Tom," she said softly, "I know someone stole it."

Tom rested his chin on top of Hermione's head, "What's gone, love?" Tom inquired, "Maybe we can look together for whatever is missing."

Hermione shook her head back and forth, "No, I have a feeling that I will never get it back."

"Well it would help if I knew what was missing," Tom pushed Hermione to tell him the whole story.

"I can't tell you, Tom." Hermione scooted away from him.

"Damn, Hermione! How can I help you if I don't know what going on?"

Looking at Tom with puffy eyes she spat out, "I didn't ask for your help!"

Jumping off of the bed and throwing his hands in the air he yelled, "You are such a stubborn woman! You give a new definition to the term inflexible!"

Hermione jumped up and shouted back at him, "You wouldn't like me any other way, admit it!"

As Tom stared at the beautiful, incensed Hermione he couldn't help himself from becoming so aroused it hurt to stand. Pulling Hermione towards him he locked his lips to her and demanded entrance into her mouth. As he felt Hermione merging into his embrace he held her tighter and drew her even closer. Hermione felt the evidence of Tom's longing for her pressing into her stomach. She wanted to give in to this hunger that they felt for one another, but other things distracted her.

Pulling away from Tom she said, "There is someone I need to confront."

Tom grabbed her hand, "Let me come with you," he asked, "I can help you with this."

Hermione shaking her head turned him down, "No, this is something I need to do on my own." Giving him a small smile she added, "I will be back here soon; please wait for me here?" Tom nodded and sent Hermione off with a, "Be strong." Hermione left to meet head-on who she thought was responsible for her problems.

The door of the Transfiguration classroom was crashed open intruding on Dumbledore's lesson. The second year students all ducked under their desks as a strong wind blew through the classroom.

Professor Dumbledore calmly looked up as Hermione stormed into his classroom. "We need to talk, old man," she demanded, "Now!"

With a placid tone Dumbledore announced, "Class is dismissed for today." All of the second years hurried out trying not to stare at the enraged Hermione.

"Now, Miss MacMillan," asked Dumbledore dryly, "Why are you here disrupting my class?"

"You know why I am here, "Hermione said in a manic voice. "I believe you know a lot about the things that have been happening to me the past few days."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed as he sat silently staring at his accuser.

Hermione continued her accusations," I want back what belongs to me."

Dumbledore again answered in a steady voice, "I do not understand, my dear."

Hermione let out a shrill laugh, "You want me to believe that you don't have a clue as to why I am here?" She ran forward and smacked her hands down on Dumbledore's desk. "I know that you stole my time turner!" Hermione screamed in Dumbledore's face.

As Dumbledore rose slowly he leaned over to face Hermione, "Even if, and I say if, I took your time turner into my safe keeping, "he slowly drawled, "You will never get it back." He stood without another glance and left the classroom. Hermione stood at the desk, with clenched fists; while the blackness stirred within her growing larger minute by minute.

Tom sat in Hermione's room waiting and wondering what was happening with her. He knew that Hermione was skilled at Occlumency and was able to shut him out of her mind; if she wasn't letting her guard down. Tom could feel when Hermione was heading back to the dungeons. The raw anger was coupled with the vast darkness that was encircling Hermione's soul. He readied himself for the explosion that would be imploding into the room any second.

Just as expected, the door was flung open with magic and went sailing across the room. The door cracked in several pieces as it hit the wall and Tom's excitement rose. Tom once again saw the Hermione standing in front of him that made his blood and cock rise. Using all of his power he tried to hold himself back and not pounce on Hermione.

Hermione started shooting off streams of wandless magic; exploding a vase of flowers, incinerating an old textbook on the desk and flipping over Lucretia's bed with a flick of her wrist. Tom standing dumb struck, was becoming more and more stimulated. It was thrilling for him to see the commanding Hermione that he had dreamed about.

Hermione's robes shot off of her from her hitting Tom in the face. She turned to Tom, "Dumbledore!" she growled out. Tom smirked back at her, as he had suspected that Dumbledore was behind Hermione's troubles.

Hermione turned to Tom grabbing her right hand and grimaced. Tom simultaneously grabbed his left hand as he felt the flames of the Eternal Flames tattoo burning his palm. Hermione trying to shoot down the pain asked Tom, "What does this mean? Why do the tattoos feel like they are on fire?" Tom welcomed the pain as it showed, once again, that their bonding had taken place and the prophecy was being fulfilled.

"I'm not sure, Hermione, but it is a message from the Gods." Tom knew he needed to find out what the God's were trying to communicate to him and Hermione. He started planning in his mind how to accomplish this by an ancient ritual he had read about.

"Well bloody hell, what are they trying to say?" Hermione interrupted Tom's thoughts, "Couldn't they find some other way to communicate that wasn't so painful?" Hermione spouted off bossily and shaking her hand.

Tom started laughing at this statement, "Well look at you, first you take on Dumbledore and now you want to take on the Gods."

Hermione standing in the middle of her chaotic room also bent over in laughter. Tom walked over to her and slid his arms around her giving her a big squeeze. As they shared this moment, despite the volatile day they had experienced, they knew they had each other to help them through.

Tom knew next what he needed to do though and he wasn't going to let Hermione in on his plan. This was something that only he had the knowledge and powerful magic to accomplish.

Chapter End Notes:

_Ahead in Chapter 11:_ This chapter will be very different from anything you have read yet! I wrote all of it in one night until 3:00 a.m. strange things go through your mind during those wee hours of the morning! ;)


	11. Chapter 11: The Ritual

Chapter 11: The Ritual

Author's Chapter Notes:

Thanks once again go to my beta _Nicole_. I also need to thank _somebodyinthedark_ for letting me bounce ideas off of him for this chapter and of course for his translation help. Also, another shout out to the faithful readers and reviewers! :) Thanks!

Chapter 11: The Ritual

"_Evil is the interruption of a truth by the pressure of particular or individual interests."_

_By Alain Badiou_

"Tom, why are we down here? asked Abraxas nervously as he looked around the vast and damp Chamber of Secrets.

"I already told you, I need to perform a very vital ritual. I need you here in case something happens during the ritual and I need your assistance," explained Tom" or if it doesn't work."

Abraxas still looking around the chamber anxiously questioned, "Is that thing still down here?"

Tom looking irritated shook his head in the affirmative, "Yes, my pet is still here."

Abraxas restlessly started looking all around him for the basilisk.

"Quit being a fussy old lady" Tom rolled his eyes, "You don't need to worry about it; you are a pureblood." Tom tried to ease Abraxas's fear. "Anyhow, he only attacks at my command."

At the base of Salazar Slytherin's gigantic statue, Tom conjured up a marble alter. On the alter he placed a blood red cloth with the Knight's symbol on it.

Abraxas watched as Tom, took off his robes, his shoes and socks, his shirt and then his trousers. Then most baffling to him was when Tom took off his boxers and stood there starkers. Abraxas wondered what kind of a ritual required Tom to be nude to participate in.

Tom broke Abraxas's staring at him by giving him instructions, "Do nothing unless I collapse or disappear." Tom explained seriously. "Then you will need to complete the ritual or take my body back to Hermione and explain to her what happened."

Dryly Abraxas said, "Why thank you so much. Leave all of your dirty work for me."

Tom tightly grabbed Abraxas's arm, "This is serious what I am attempting to do." He rationalized, "You are my most trusted follower."

"Ok, Tom," Abraxas said in a soothing voice, "I will be right over here."

Tom took out two glass bottles of ritual oils to apply on his body. Turning to Abraxas he said, "I need your help in applying the ritual oils." Seeing the uncomfortable look on Abraxas's face almost made Tom laugh, but he didn't want to ruin the serious mood of the ritual.

Standing he crossed over to the altar, "Where do you want me to…touch...I mean apply the oils?" Abraxas asked timidly. Looking at Tom's firm and lithe form he was feeling a little overwhelmed by the task given to him.

"Bloody hell, Malfoy!" Tom roared out, "You have seen me in the nude before." Seeing how red in the face Abraxas was Tom teased, "Unless you like what you see. Are you turned on?"

Looking down unintentionally at Tom's large cock, he stepped back; Abraxas chocked out," Shite no, Tom!"

Tom, giving Abraxas his famous eyebrow wagging, ribbed Abraxas further, "Pity…too bad."

Not getting any answer out of Abraxas Tom laughed, "I was just joking mate," he shook his head, "Hermione is the only one for me; even if you are an attractive bloke."

"Well Thank the Gods!" Abraxas proclaimed loudly, "You had me going there for a minute".

Holding up a bottle of oil Tom explained, "This is cardamom oil; to help me show courage to face any situation." Tom spread the oil over his well developed chest muscles and across his powerful biceps. Then he applied the oil over his flat abs and coated his strong thighs and calves. Handing the bottle to Abraxas he said, "Would you please help me and apply the oil on my back… Are you ok with that?"

Abraxas reached out taking the bottle, "I am fine with that…handsome." Tom grinned back at his friend glad that he was finally relaxing a little.

After all of his body was covered with the cardamom oil he reached for the next bottle. "This is cinnamon oil…a special blend called Sun/Fire oil." Tom explained as he rubbed on the oil. "This is applied to my chest, over my heart and on my temples." Tom said, "This is for personal protection, meditation and Illumination. Its purpose is to stimulate clairvoyance and raise spiritual and magical vibrations."

Tom lit the eight inch ritual candles on the altar. He began to cast a circle to welcome the Gods whom he wanted to communicate with. He needed to find some answers for himself and for Hermione. Tom had never attempted the ritual before, but felt secure in his powers that he would be successful. Besides, there was no one, in the magical community, intelligent enough to interpret this event happening to him and his woman.

The circle he was creating was regarded as a space "between the worlds"; neither in this world nor yet in the next. It was a place to commune with deity and be one with the Gods. As Tom constructed the circle he used his personal power; streaming out of his body and out into the air. The circle when completed was a sphere of energy that encompassed the entire Chamber of Secrets. The circle was also a way for Tom to protect his magic and energy from all directions. His main goal was to connect his energy with the energy of the Earth and his surroundings in the chamber.

Tom raised his voice and he shouted out, "I create this circle to protect me from all forces that may come to do me harm."

As Abraxas watched, he was entranced with the man he called the Dark Lord. Standing there nude, as the candlelight flickered against his muscular fame gleaming with the oil, he was striking.

Tom called out to the Gods again, "Hearken, oh great spirits, black and white. Hearken to the runes I say, four points of the circle weave your spell."

Tom took his wand and cast "Diffindo" on his left arm in several places. Then he did the same on his right arm. The slices on his arms were deep, allowing his blood to flow freely. Taking the blue cobalt goblet, with pewter intertwined snakes on the front; he allowed the streaming blood to run into the chalice. Tom had told Abraxas earlier not to be alarmed about this part of the ritual. This was Tom's blood sacrifice to the God's, to show how he was offering all to receive their help. Casting the healing spell next, "Curatio Intus", all of the wounds healed and the bleeding stopped.

Falling on his knees and raising his arms over his head he summoned the Gods. "Dei terrae et caeli vacamini!" Abraxas heard Tom shouting out and eyes looking upward.

As Tom repeated the words, "Dei terrae et caeli vacamini!" he cried out louder and more forceful.

Abraxas sitting immobile understood the Latin words Tom was yelling out. Tom was summoning the God of Earth and the God of the Sky. As Tom once again bellowed out to the Gods, "Dei terrae et casli vacamini!", Abraxas felt a shift in the dank, musty air in the Chamber of Secrets. Swirling down from the top of the chamber was a large cloud with circling winds. A bright light shone all around the cloud making Tom and Abraxas squint from the brightness.

With a smile on his face Tom watched with a bit of a smug attitude. Abraxas tried shrinking back farther from the altar; not wanting to be part of the phenomenon that was taking place.

As suddenly as the bright light appeared, a great flame burst from the great stone mouth of Salazar Slytherin. The flames were almost as tall as the enormous ceilings in the chamber. The heat from the blaze could be felt from both wizards, who felt like they were being burned. As the cloud and the flames neared the men, the two natural entities clashed and combined to create a cyclone. As the scorching cyclone swirled around and around Tom and Abraxas, they hurriedly covered their faces. The intensity of the heat made Tom energized, but only left Abraxas full of unease and wanting to make a swift escape.

Unexpectedly a burst of thunder and lightning exploded throughout the chamber. There stood two magnificent looking beings; one male and the other female. The male figure was dressed in a gold trimmed white toga. He had bright white, curly hair and crystal clear blue eyes; like pools of spring water. The female was dressed in a long, ruby red gown made of silk that flowed and hugged her every curve. The neck was scooped low to show off her ample bosom. The back of the dress had zig-zag straps all the way down showing off her rounded derriere. The long elegant train only added to the regal aura she exuded. Finishing off her exquisiteness was her long flowing brunette hair that reached her hips. She gave Tom a splendid smile with her heavily glossed lips. Looking Tom up and down, she walked up to him and ran her 2 inch nails down Tom's muscled chest. "Hmmm" she purred, "I like this gift that is being so freely given to me." As the female circled around the altar she commanded, "Stand, human, and let me look at the full glory of your personage."

Tom stood proudly as he watched the female God appraising his assets. Again she circled around Tom running her hands on his chest, back and arse and then heading for his very erect cock. The male God stepped forward and starkly asked, "Why did you call, human?" and he frowned as the female God continued to run her hands over Tom's strong body.

Abraxas, sitting silently, was gobsmacked at the woman who was freely fondling the Dark Lord. There was actually a bit of jealousy running through him. He also wanted to feel the beautiful Goddess run her hands over him. Never before had he seen such a woman of such stunning magnificence.

"I am not a mere human, Oh great God," Tom said more humbly than Abraxas had ever heard him speak, "I am a great wizard. I am feared and admired by many"

The female God went back to stand by the male. "We know who you are," said the Goddess in a sultry voice, "It is us who gifted you and your woman with the Eternal Flames tattoo."

Speaking again the male inquired, "What do you wish of us? We are here to listen to your appeal."

"Now, my love," said the female in her smooth voice, "we must be polite and introduce ourselves…don't you agree?" Now she was running her hands up and down the male God's well-fit frame.

"I am Astralus; the God of the Sky and the clouds," said the male, "I rule over all things light in the universe."

"I am Flamina; the God of Earth and fire," said the radiant beauty, "I rule over all things dark in the universe." As Flamina spoke of the dark, Tom felt a burning growing inside of him. Flamina could sense what resided in Tom's soul and grinned as she felt the sinister growth of great evil in the wizard.

Astralus, almost put out, looked again to Tom, "So, what do you desire from us?"

Tom, trying to word his plea so as not to offend said, "My woman, Hermione and I, Tom Riddle, want to know why we were chosen to fulfill the prophecy that was given hundreds of years ago?" Tom was pleased that he had the attention of the Gods. "Why do the tattoos, that you so graciously gave us, flare to life at certain times?"

With a smirk Flamina, gave a low laugh, "I was pleased that your woman showed such command over her magic. She has shown great progress as she discovers her abilities." She said in her hypnotic velvety voice, "When you are doing what makes me happy you will know through your tattoos. It will be your link to us."

"Ha!" said Astralus. "I think that your woman could have handled things a much gentler way than she did." Tom glared at Astralus as he voiced his opinion.

"You would think that way, wouldn't you?" disagreed Flamina." It's always the same, if it's something that makes me happy, than you of course will not be delighted." Flamina pouting, stared stonily over at the male God.

"This is why we live on different spheres," said Astralus, "Though we love one another, we don't always get along." He finished sadly.

Listening to the Godly couple arguing, it reminded him of his and Hermione's relationship. Were they destined to be like them, in love, but not able to live together and be content?

"Sadly, there are too many differences in our philosophies of the way the planets should be ruled." Flamina had a heartrending look on her face, but it quickly disappeared.

"What is your philosophy, Tom?" asked Flamina. "Would you like to rule the planet?" As Flamina asked the question Abraxas gasped and quickly covered his mouth and Tom glared over at him.

"Well, Flamina," answered Tom, "I have always felt that I would be the one to rule the Wizarding World some day. I had not thought about the whole planet…until now." The look on Tom's face showed how Flamina's words were swaying his thinking about domination.

"Now, Flamina," Astralus surged forward, "You can't go promising him something like that! Last time you promised someone this it started a world war"

"Why not Astralus?" Flamina said convincingly, "Look at the man, he carries the authority and bearing of one who should rule." Flamina smiled at Tom as she could see her words were stroking Tom's arrogance." Of course, there will be conditions that you will have to meet in order for this to happen."

Tom, feeling self-important, piped up, "I will do anything you say, tell me what I must do."

With great delight, Flamina clapped her hands together and squealed with pleasure, "I knew that you would be the one to accept a great offer." Her eyes got big and she stepped up to Tom, "I will give you power over all wizards and greater magical abilities such as to do wandless magic flawlessly."

Flamina started talking faster as she explained to Tom all that she would gift him with, "You must step up your campaign against those who are un-pure, the muggles and mudbloods. You must restore the leadership in the magical community to the pure-bloods; but also the eventual subjugation of the muggle community under the wizarding rule. It is time for you to give your Knights a new name."

Tom's mind was racing as Flamina was telling him about her plan for him. Flamina's words only fueled the haughtiness that was already inside of Tom.

"This new name that you will give your followers needs to be a name that will instill fear in the entire wizarding world." Flamina was now circling again around the altar as she eagerly shared her proposal with Tom. "You and your followers will rid the world of those who would stop you from becoming the greatest wizard the world has ever known!"

Tom, heart beating wildly, had never felt more exhilarated in his whole life. This arrangement would bring about dreams wilder than even he had ever dreamed.

"You will need to make death your mantra, "Flamina said softly, "It is your obligation, as Salazar Slytherin's last remaining heir, to carry forth this plan." Flamina could see that those last words meant a lot to Tom. It reminded him about his preordained destiny. Tom had an eager, but solemn look on his face. His jaws were clenching as he pondered the fated future.

"Speaking of heirs," Flamina continued in an airy voice, "You need to get your woman pregnant… soon." she commanded Tom. Abraxas felt his insides tighten as he heard these words. They were all still in school, what would happen to Hermione if she became pregnant right now? Would she be kicked out of school? Would she leave Tom? Would she become so angry that she would betray the Knights to Headmaster Dippet?

"Your friend isn't sure about this plan. Tom," Flamina said gesturing towards Abraxas. "But there are those who want to take Hermione away from you. If they succeed, your heir will never be born and the prophecy will not be fulfilled." These words filled Tom with great fury that anyone would want to abduct Hermione and take away what belonged to him. He was filled with a great protectiveness towards her and his yet to be conceived child.

"What are your conditions?" Abraxas bravely stood as he addressed Flamina. "You said if Tom was to receive all of these great things he had to "meet" some conditions?"

Tom furiously verbalized, "Abraxas, it is not for you to be asking these questions!"

Flamina walking towards Abraxas and in her sensuous tone said, "It is well, Tom. You have a fine follower here; devoted and willing to risk his life for yours." She came so close to Abraxas that he could feel Flamina's warm breath as it ghosted across his face. "I know all about the Malfoys. There have been many of them, through the years, that have given me their souls to glorify evil."

Walking away from Abraxas, Flamina walked back to Tom. With a malevolent glare on her face, she laid down the terms, "You, Tom Riddle, will be gifted with all that I have spoken about if…you worship me and give me your soul." Gasps could be heard from both Abraxas and Astralus as Flamina made her stipulations.

Astralus came forward to speak to Tom, "There must be another way," he countered, "I can help you figure out a way to gain power by good means and I won't request your soul." Astralus looked annoyed at Flamina and stood there trying to plead with Tom. "I don't think you quite understand what Flamina is asking of you."

With great pompousness, Tom stated back to Astralus, "I think I am intelligent enough to understand what is required of me." Flamina, beaming with a wicked smile, could see that she was close to ensnaring Tom in her evil grasp.

"Tom, my friend, "Abraxas said grasping roughly on to Tom's arm, "Don't you think that you should talk to Hermione about all of this first? It will affect her in many ways and she should have a say."

"Damnit, man!" Tom exploded at Abraxas, shaking off the tight grip on his arm "I am the Dark Lord; I am in charge; not Hermione. She will do as I say!" Abraxas knew that Flamina was winning this battle and he backed off.

Tom dropped to his knees and grabbed a hold of Flamina's silk dress. "I am ready to declare a wizard's oath to you, oh my beautiful Goddess of darkness." Tom looked up into her eyes, "Please let me follow you and help me become the great ruler that I so desire." As the tears welled up in Tom's eyes, Abraxas felt like he was going to vomit.

Flamina looked down and lifted Tom's head up, "I will grant this to you."

Reaching over to the altar, she lifted up the chalice that held Tom's blood. Bringing it to her lips she drank of Tom's blood sacrifice. She slowly ran her tongue over her lips to lap up the last traces of blood. Setting down the goblet, she put her hands on Tom's shoulders and stared upwards. In a language that no human being had ever heard, she made her bond and oath with Tom Riddle, to give him all of the glories and powers of the world. She also granted Tom the power to understand every word being spoken in the ritual.

"Now it is your turn," Flamina commanded

Tom spoke, "I, Tom Marvolo Riddle, give freely of my service, my life, my soul; to bring glory to you, Goddess Flamina, ruler over the earth and fire and all dark things." As soon as the words were spoken, it was as if an electric shock went through Tom's body as he convulsed and withered about on the ground.

Tom finished trembling and Flamina announced, "It is complete. You are now my servant, but the rest of the earth will be yours." Tom stood on quivering legs but stood up and smirked at Flamina.

"How will I know what you want me to do?" asked Tom. "There must be a way that we can communicate in order for me to do your will."

"I will be contacting you." Flamina instructed, "You will be taught by me in many ways." Flamina wore a sardonic grin, "Now remember what has been said to you this night. Go and do as has been commanded."

With a rush forward, a disturbed Astralus grabbed Flamina by the arms, hugging her closely. The searing cyclone appeared once again and swept up the supernatural beings. The cyclone twirled around and around above the heads of the wizards. With a flash it disappeared and the chamber was silent again.

With a flick of his hand, Tom's clothes appeared on his body. Reaching over to the altar he picked up the chalice that had held his blood. Tipping it up, he drained the last dredges of his own blood from the goblet. Looking over at Abraxas he dryly commented, "Yes, I can hear what you are thinking and yes, it's time to go have a talk with Hermione."

Leaving Abraxas behind Tom walked away, turning around he said, "Are you coming or would you rather stay down here with my pet?" Abraxas came running swiftly, while Tom smirked and strutted off with even more haughtiness than he had ever shown before.

Chapter End Notes:

**So that is my take on how and why Tom Riddle/Voldemort was soul less and such an evil bastard. Did you like Flamina? What an evil wench! Review and let me know what you thought about my "different" chapter.**

_Dei terrae et caeli vocamini_Gods of Earth and Sky I summon you

Circle casting ideas are from the site . The information about the oils come from . All of the rest comes from my brain that would not turn off until this was all written...3:00 a.m.


	12. Chapter 12:Seeking the Truth

Author's Chapter Notes:

Nicole, you are such a great beta...thanks for your patience!

To my readers...please hang in there as this story unfolds. There will be many ups and downs for Hermione along the way. Just keep reading!

Chapter 12: Seeking the Truth

"_There are no whole truths: all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil."….Alfred North Whitehead_

"So, Headmaster Dippet," asked Tom, "You want the Head Boy and Head Girl to plan and host a Halloween ball?"

The Head Girl, Eleanor Courcy, looked over at Tom and gave a little grin. Tom gave a pasty fake smile back to the Head Girl.

"I hear that it is tradition," Tom turned to listen to Eleanor, "That the Head Boy and the Head Girl always dance the first dance together at the ball."

"I am thrilled beyond measure," Tom gave his phony smile again, "at the prospect of our opening dance together."

"Tom, you and Miss Courcy must plan the ball and come up with a theme," instructed Headmaster Dippet. "For it is to be a costume ball."

Tom grinning wickedly was thinking to himself, "_Yes, I think I will come as the Dark Lord."_

Headmaster Dippet noticing Tom's smile asked, "So, Tom, you look like you have an idea for our theme?"

Tom nodding his head agreed, "I may have an idea or two", but in his mind he thought, _"I could care less about your silly ball, you old fool!"_

The Head Girl started clapping her hands and bouncing up and down, "I know, I know," and she had a stupid grin on her face. "Let's dress up as famous couples."

As she continued talking Tom was almost ready to walk out, "I think that we, as Head Girl and Head Boy need to dress as Romeo and Juliet."

Tom sitting up straight in his seat turned sharply to Elinor and shook his head, "I will be going with my girlfriend to the ball," he said rather sternly. "Hermione and I will be dressed as a couple."

Eleanor bit her lip and tried to hold back her tears, "It was only a suggestion," and the tears started to slide down her cheeks.

Tom stood up to leave and on the way out shouted back, "Get your own date." The room was silent as Tom left except for Eleanor's sniffles.

Headmaster Dippet just shook his head, "I didn't realize he had such a temper." He patted Eleanor's hand to comfort her.

On the way to Herbology class Abraxas tried to catch up with Tom. "Slow down, mate," Abraxas breathed heavily as he was running, but not quite as fast as Tom was walking. "What has your feathers all ruffled up?"

Snickering and glancing over at Abraxas he explained, "Headmaster Dippet just informed me that I, along with our bouncy Head Girl, have to plan and host a costume Halloween ball."

"So…what's the problem, Tom?"

Rolling his eyes and walking faster Tom grumbled, "I don't like balls; especially of the costume variety."

Abraxas chuckling just smiled. "One ball will not kill you," looking over at Tom he added, "Hermione will love it and you can make a romantic evening of it."

After a moment of silence Abraxas boldly asked, "Speaking of Hermione, have you told her yet about the other night and what happened in the chamber?"

Irritated Tom whispered, "Quiet down, man, no one can hear about what transpired in the chamber." He shot Abraxas a warning glare.

Nearing the greenhouses Tom stopped and turned toward Abraxas, "I haven't had a chance to discuss anything with Hermione yet, but I will soon."

As Tom started walking again he reassured Abraxas, "Don't worry," he said wickedly, "She needs to know where she is going to fit into my current plans."

In Abraxas's mind he pictured a very pregnant Hermione wobbling around Hogwarts and just shook his head. He quickly followed Tom to the greenhouse hoping that Hermione would at least listen to Tom before she exploded; because he knew that she wouldn't take to Tom's plans very well.

As Tom found his way over to Hermione she was laughing with Lucretia and Clarice. For a moment, he was struck by how his insides set on fire when he saw a happy, smiling Hermione

"There you are, Tom," she gave him a big smile; "I wondered when you were coming?" Tom questioned if Hermione would still be smiling after he told her what Flamina said she needed to do soon.

"So how did your meeting go with Headmaster Dippet?" she asked cheerfully.

"I have to help plan and host a Halloween costume ball," said Tom with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

All of the girls started screaming, jumping up and down and talking rapidly about what they wanted to wear and how they would fix their hair.

Tom with a sour face turned to Abraxas, "What's with females when they hear the words "costume ball"? He questioned. "They all engage in a bout of horse play."

"Oh, Tom, we will have a wonderful time," Hermione hugged Tom and he noticed how enthused she was about the upcoming ball. This could be a good thing, to get her in a good mood, in order to tell her his other news.

Trying to get Tom's attention Lucretia shouted out, "What kind of costumes will we get to wear?" All of the girls turned towards Tom to get any bit of information he was willing to share.

"Oh," Tom groaned, "What if we all just came starkers and had a Garden of Eden theme? Then we wouldn't have to worry about costumes."

"Tom, you are being ridiculous," Hermione grabbed his hands, "Tell us what the theme is?"

Tom looked down to Hermione and mumbled, "Famous couples."

Lucretia asked dancing around him. "What was that, Tom?" We really want to know." Lucretia grabbed Abraxas and started to dip him. Abraxas swirled her around and dipped her instead. Tom just thought that Abraxas wasn't helping his cause at all by playing along with the girls.

"I said, we are supposed to dress as famous couples," Tom turned his nose up at the frivolity taking place in front of him. "Frankly, Hermione and I should just come as ourselves."

Hermione started laughing so hard she was doubled over holding her stomach. Tom was a little put out from her laughter and quietly thought, "_In the future we will be a famous couple that will be admired and worshipped."_

Hermione, realizing that Tom wasn't laughing and also he didn't look too happy, immediately stopped laughing. She suddenly realized that Tom had been absolutely serious when he had made that statement about them.

Touching his arm she tried to apologize to him, "I'm sorry, Tom. I wasn't making fun or you or us as a couple."

Tom looked at Hermione with a little smirk, "You do know that there is no way to escape your fate," Tom was speaking ominously, "or your future with me."

Reaching out, his arms encircled Hermione and he held her so close and tight she could hardly breathe. He also brushed the hair back from her face and traced her earlobe playing with her earring. Leaning down, and tickling her ear with his breath, he softly said, "I'm not angry with you," he rubbed her back languidly. "We need to talk after class about something important "

Hermione giving a nervous giggle whispered back, "Why does it always make me worried when you have something important to tell me?"

Looking at her seriously he answered, "I guess that is the price you pay for loving me and being my woman." His eyes bore into Hermione's waiting for some type of response from her.

Hermione knew from the set of Tom's jaw that he was dead serious and that this was not a humorous discussion they would be having. "Ok…after class."

Tom and Hermione made their way to their favorite quiet place, The Room of Requirement. Most people did not know about this mysterious room and they never found anyone using the room when they needed it.

Hermione noticed the early dinner served on a decorative place setting. She also didn't fail to notice the canopied queen bed back in the far corner. Whatever Tom needed to talk to her about he was making sure to please Hermione first.

First politely seating Hermione at the table, he took the opposite seat of her and smiled as he sat down.

Hermione pursed he lips and shook her head, "Now then…what do you need to say to me that is so important?"

Acting surprised Tom truly acted shocked at her demand, "Can't we just have a nice dinner together?"

"Oh my…"Hermione sputtered, "I know you a lot better than you think I do, Tom Riddle!"

"Does that mean we don't get to eat dinner together then?" Tom asked innocently.

"No, Tom," she answered suggestively. "Your needs will be met in every way tonight." She smiled provocatively at him. "On one condition… I want only the truth from you tonight."

With a stern look on his face Tom responded, "That's fair…honesty; but I must ask of you to not over-react to what I must tell you."

"I promise you, Tom, that I will listen with great understanding and try not to fly off in a mad rage," she winked at him as she leaned forward and set her wine glass down.

Tom noticed the small grin on her face, "You will try not to fly off in a mad rage? Just try?" Tom stared hard at her. "I need your promise."

"For Merlin's sake, Tom…I promise!" Hermione was exasperated. "Would you like me to get down on my knees and promise or would you rather I be in a prostrate position?"

Smirking, Tom's eyes beamed, "I can think of other things I would love to have you do while on your knees or from that prostrate position.

Rolling her eyes Hermione sighed and continued eating her dinner. Tom watched her as she ate silently not commenting on his sexual remark and not looking at him either.

"Ok…I really want to know what you want our costumes to be like for the ball." As Hermione choked on her carrots, she spit them out so she could breathe. Hermione started laughing so hard that tears were spilling out of her eyes and landing on her potatoes. To make matters worse, Hermione could not stop laughing at what Tom had just asked her.

"What's so humorous to make you spew your food?" Tom asked feeling rather irritated. "I think it is of the essence that we look marvelous at the ball, "Tom reasoned. "After all I am Head Boy and The Dark Lord," whispered Tom.

"Why are you whispering?" Hermione asked. "There is no on here except the two of us."

"OK, is this better?" Tom asked loudly, "I didn't know that you had something against whispering."

Hermione shook her finger at Tom, "Now you are just being juvenile," she made a ridiculous face at Tom. "I just don't want to go to the ball as a well known famous couple."

"So that means no Romeo and Juliet or Cleopatra and Marc Antony?" Tom was very curious.

"Listen to this," Hermione had an excited look in her eyes, "I want you to dress up as an Arabian Sheik and I will be dressed up as your Harem girl."

Tom spit out his wine mid-swallow, "Harem girls don't wear a lot of clothing." He shook his head, "I'm not sure that I want all of the males lusting after my Harem girl."

"It's just a costume," Hermione said nonchalantly, "You will look so handsome in the rich robes and headdress of a sheik." She gave him a very saucy look, "You will be very rugged and intriguing." Batting her eyelashes at Tom she added, "You need to grow a beard and a mustache to add to the allure of your costume."

Walking around to Hermione he reached down and lifted her up snugly against him. "I like when you talk that way." Tom kissed Hermione feeling her lips soft and warm pressing against his. "A Sheik and his Harem girl it will be."

Tom twirled Hermione around where she could feel his hard chest against her back. She leaned her head back against his shoulder so she could look into his face and she smiled.

"Now what do you really want to tell me, Tom?" Hermione felt Tom's body stiffen behind her. "I must know the truth. Why did you bring me here tonight?" Turning around, Hermione frowned at Tom, waiting for an answer.

Looking around the room, Tom felt his previous good mood disappearing, having been disrupted by Hermione's questions. They could not be dismissed lightly and now he needed to tell her all.

Without a word he lifted Hermione in his arms and walked towards the bed. As he gently set her down he shrugged off his robes. Lying next to her he unfastened the clasp on Hermione's robes.

As Tom bent down to kiss her he was stopped by Hermione's two fingers on his lips. "Are you planning on shagging me silly and then telling me whatever is weighing heavy on your mind?"

"I think that is a divine plan," Tom's eyebrow shot up, "But only if you insist."

Climbing on top of Hermione he molded his body to hers. Brushing her hands up Tom's back she tightened her thighs against his.

Slowly undoing the buttons on Hermione's blouse, he reached around and unhooked her bra. Freeing her breasts, Tom buried his face in her soft mounds. With the tip of his tongue he took the sweet pink bud in his mouth sucking softly. She felt the pure desire shooting straight to her core making her arch up against Tom. Needing more, Hermione quickly unbuttoned Tom's shirt pressing kisses all along his chest and laving his nipples. Eliciting a long moan from Tom it was his turn to unzip Hermione's skirt and slip it off then hurriedly throwing her knickers onto the floor. Sweeping his fingers at the apex of her womanhood his fingers found her so wet and pushing against him. "More, Tom…Oh Gods…please more." As he circled her clit, feverishly working towards her bliss, he felt Hermione wrap her legs around his waist.

"Tom, I want to feel all of you against me," Hermione reached up to unzip his pants and tug them down. Thrusting forward he placed kisses along her neck and down again to her other breast making Hermione feel dizzy. He sighed as she wrapped her hand around him. As their eyes met, Hermione cried out something, which at the moment was incomprehensible to Tom. He was trembling as he thought soon of being buried deep within Hermione. He drove himself into the scorching heart of her, where he knew only he would ever belong. As he breathlessly pounded into her she met him thrust for thrust. Sinking back into her he was feeling a frenzied loss of control. As Hermione gasped at the urgency of Tom's propelling force into her boiling core, she let herself soar with each sensation that rushed through her body. "Come now, love," Tom said tenderly, "I can't hold back any longer." As if given permission, Hermione felt the eruption inside of her that sent waves of pleasure from end to end of her body. As her body signaled completion, Tom followed as his body turned rock hard sending a stream of his seed into Hermione's womb.

Sinking onto the woman he had chosen as his mate, his head fell into the great mass of soft hair. As he tried to regain his steady breathing, he mumbled against her neck, "It would be brilliant if you became pregnant from our time together; Flamina would be pleased."

As Hermione sat up quickly she hit Tom's chin, "Ouch…what is wrong?" Tom held his flaming chin as he felt like his teeth had been shaken loose.

"Who the bloody hell is Flamina and why would she be happy if I became pregnant?" Hermione scurried off of the bed standing by the side of the bed shaking. Seeing the fury in Hermione's eyes, he knew that he had made a mistake in the aftermath of his passion. This was the reason why talking and sex didn't mix!

Hermione grabbed her knickers and yanked them on. "What is going on? Is Flamina your new lover and she wants me pregnant so she can have you for herself?" Tom's mind was racing furiously trying to come up with a quick explanation without infuriating Hermione anymore.

"She's a God…a Goddess," Tom spoke quickly trying to explain who Flamina was, but bollocking up the whole explanation.

"I'm sure that she is a Goddess to you," Hermione red-faced grabbed her shirt and skirt throwing them on haphazardly in her anger. "I must be a troll in your eyes if you call her a Goddess!"

Tom jumped out of bed to run to Hermione who was running for the door. "Don't touch me, you bastard!" She slapped him across the face. "I am tired of you and…the games...and all of the women."

Tom acting surprised questioned, "What are you going on about, Hermione? There are no other women!"

Hermione, anger rising, shouted back, "Then who is this Goddess…Flamina…whoever she is?" Hermione stomped her feet and butted her chest against Tom's. Looking down she saw the aroused cock on Tom pushing against her. "How can you be so…so…" she pointed to his proudly erect member "in the middle of our fight?"

Tom groaning pulled Hermione next to him, "This is what you do to me when you get all hot and angry," he kissed her as if lapping up water that was residing on her lips. "You make me so damn aroused when you become livid."

With a disgusted look that she shot towards Tom, she said, "Only you would use anger as an aphrodisiac!"

"Let me go." Hermione wiggled out of his grasp, "I said I wanted the truth tonight…what is going on?"

After an hour of trying to explain everything that had happened in the chamber, Hermione sat stunned.

"You have damned yourself, Tom," she sat down bewildered. "How could you do this to me…to us?" Hermione continued on her rampage, "Do you not care enough about me to talk things through before you give your soul away? You are a selfish, greedy man!" Hermione truly was stunned inside as she realized how and why Tom Riddle had become the monster Voldemort. Now it was too late to save Tom. Many nights she had stayed awake thinking that maybe it was still possible to rescue Tom from his fate; but her dreams were lost now. She felt so hopeless; she wasn't able to save Harry, she wasn't able to save Ron and now she wouldn't be able to save Tom. There was no way for her to do battle against a Goddess for Tom's soul. As the shock overcame her, she felt that her life was ill-fated; destined for unhappiness.

Tom sat rigid, not looking at Hermione, but trying to temper his anger at her words.

"I am not ready to have a baby or to be a mom," Hermione tried to reason with Tom.

"Did you not listen to me?" Tom's annoyance rising to the surface, "Flamina said that we can't wait any longer. Someone wants to take you away from me. "

"So if Flamina said it…then we do everything she said."

Huge tears fell as she clasped her hands so tightly they were shaking. "I can't do this, Tom…I won't do this, Tom." Hermione got off of the bed. With sadness clouding her face she looked at Tom once more, shook her head and left the room.

Tom standing at the table lifted Hermione's wine glass. Swirling the red liquid in the glass he said out loud, "You may think that you can't do this, but the fertility potion I slipped into your drink may help solve this problem for us." Putting the glass down he looked up to the ceiling and shouted, "Flamina, Hermione would kill me if she knew the fertility potion counteracted her contraceptive potion." Walking back to the bed, he curled up and fell asleep thinking of ways to make things better with Hermione, one more time.

Chapter End Notes:

The ball is heading here soon...it will be in chapter 13 or 14! Thanks dax for the idea about the ball...since this still is a "cliché" fic! ;)

Thanks goes to all of my new readers here at ! I appreciate your reviews and your interest in my story! Keep enjoying it!


	13. Chapter 13: A Time to Dance

Chapter 13: A Time to Dance

Author's Chapter Notes:

I hope that you are ready for this...the longest chapter I have ever written. There is a lot that happens in this chapter. Thanks goes to my beta Nicole for doing a fabulous job...as always!

(BTW…for those that don't know, this story was originally written for the cliché challenge over at Granger Enchanted. I had the time turner category. This story has taken on a life of its own and has become more than a cliché fic to me. Thanks for reading!)

* * *

Chapter 13: A Time to Dance

"_Next time you're mad, try dancing out your anger." Sweet pea Tyler_

"Hermione, it's time to go back to our room," Lucretia had tried the past half hour to get her to leave the library. Hermione just continued writing down the information that she was finding from her intense research.

Lucretia put her hand on Hermione's arm and she finally looked up, "Why don't we go back to our room and talk about our costumes."

Hermione, after spending four hours in the library looked dazed, "What costumes, Lucretia?"

As she patted Hermione's arm Lucretia told her, "The ball, Hermione…the Halloween costume ball."

Slowly turning to look at Lucretia, Hermione gave her a tired and sad look, "It's fine, you go ahead without me." Lucretia reached out and hugged Hermione to her. Quietly she soothed her, "I know things aren't right between you and Tom," she reached up to wipe a tear from Hermione's face, "but I am always here if you need to talk."

Hermione gave her good friend a half smile, "I know and I am so grateful for you." Rising from her seat, Hermione started putting her books in her bag, "But this is something I need to work out on my own,"

Giving Lucretia's hand a soft squeeze, she started to walk off. Looking over her shoulder Hermione added, "I will see you back in our room in awhile…don't worry about me."

Lucretia's heart was breaking for Hermione's. All that she had been able to weasel out of Abraxas was that something major had happened between Tom and Hermione and that it would be a miracle if they ever worked it out. With a big sigh, Lucretia grabbed her things and headed back to her room to wait for Hermione.

* * *

This was the way that she liked it up here; very quiet; with a full moon over head and a sky full of stars. This was one of her and Harry's favorite places to go and talk privately. They had shared many of their deepest worries, heartaches and desires with each other on this tower. Most couples came to snog on the Astronomy Tower; the two best friends had always gone there to confide and console.

With a slight breeze gently lifting strands of her hair to tickle her face, the October chill on this evening was actually comforting. Hermione thought back to the last night she and Harry had sat up here on the tower and had a good heart-to-heart talk. That talk had taken place two nights before the final battle; two nights before she had lost Harry to Voldemort's curse.

With her eyes closed she let her mind drift to that peaceful night…

"_Harry, you are very quiet tonight." Hermione placed her hand on Harry's arm to show him that she was here for him. Scooting closer to Hermione, Harry pulled her to him and he put his arm around her. Hermione let her head fall softly on his shoulder and she sighed. _

_After a few moments Harry spoke, "I'm scared__,__ Hermione," his voice cracked, "I know I should be ready for this, but I'm not." Hermione felt Harry take a deep breath and shudder, holding back a sob that threatened to come out. "I'm not ready to die…yet"_

_Hermione felt Harry tighten his hold on her. "Harry, you are not going to die." She tried to reassure him, even though in her heart she knew there was no guarantee, "Ron and I will both be there to help you fight him."_

_Dropping his arm he turned Hermione to face him, "You don't know that for sure" Harry's cheerless eyes looked into hers, "It is ultimately me and me only that will have to kill Voldemort."_

_Hermione could feel the sorrow and fear building in Harry's heart and she felt helpless not knowing for sure how to help him. She lifted her hand up to caress Harry's cheek. He leaned into her touch with closed eyes._

"_Harry," he opened his eyes at the sound of her voice, "I know…I know deep in my heart that you will defeat this maniac." The tears flowed freely down both of their faces. Harry leaned in towards Hermione and lightly brushed her lips with his. As the two friends kissed, they wrapped their arms around each other, deepening their kiss and Harry lowered Hermione gently to the ground. Harry, now laying on her, poured out all of his feelings into this connection. Hermione ran her fingers through Harry's thick hair. Harry's hands started exploring the curves of Hermione's firm breasts. Sliding over the taut tips jutting against the thin fabric of her blouse, Hermione moaned into Harry's mouth. Harry couldn't help himself from thrusting against the girl who had always stood by his side. Hermione opened her legs wide to Harry. If this was the only thing she could give him tonight, some comfort, then she would give freely of herself. _

_As the clothes gradually came off, Harry looked deep into Hermione's eyes for acceptance at what was taking place. She looked up at him, giving him a nod and an amiable smile, he continued. They made love that night with no further expectations beyond the moment. First Hermione and then Harry climaxed; they lay breathing heavily, not looking at one another._

_Finally Harry, grinning down at Hermione spoke, "Thank you, my best friend in the whole world," and he nuzzled her neck._

"_Harry," she lifted his head up, "I never would have imagined it would be that good between us." and she grinned at him. "If I had known that, I would have chased you instead of wasting my time with Ron."_

_Harry gave a huge laugh and hugged Hermione tightly to him. "I love you, Hermione."_

"_I love you too, Harry." Hermione hugged him back. Both of them knew that it wasn't romantic love, but true unconditional love._

_Two nights later Hermione would cradle a dead and battered Harry in her arms. _

As Hermione sat remembering that one, calm and consoling night with Harry, she hugged her knees tightly to her chest and rocked back and forth. She suddenly felt the coolness around her, whether from the October weather or from her feelings festering inside. How would Harry view her now? Would he still love her if he knew what she had become? Would she ever be able to explain to him how she had fallen in love with Tom Riddle, the enemy? That would be a difficult explanation, considering she couldn't even explain it to herself. Hermione looking up towards the stars softly called out, "I'm sorry, Harry…"

* * *

Tom off in his room, alone, was feeling great sadness and he knew where it was coming from. Ever since the bonding, he and Hermione unwittingly shared their feelings with each other. Sometimes it was a good thing and other times it was a downright bother. For some reason, it had truly bothered him that Hermione was still mad at him, but was also feeling more sorrow for him and the decisions he had made. Tom wondered where she was right now, but he didn't feel that she was in her room. The Eternal Flames tattoo was only burning a little; very different from the other night when she had left in such a huff. He had wanted to go to her for several days now, but the tattoo was an indicator of her feelings towards him, and he knew he was better off just staying away for awhile. They would need to work harder on dealing with the feelings they were sharing with each other. There were things that he would not want Hermione to know he was doing, especially when he would be receiving extra training from Flamina. But for now, his woman was sitting somewhere with a broken heart and he had a feeling much of the heartache was because of him.

* * *

The Saturday before the ball Tom and his Inner Circle sat hunched together in Tom's bedroom.

"It is time to change the name of our organization." Tom spoke intently to his men. "We need to formulate something that will cause terror to rise in the hearts of all men and women; mudbloods and wizards alike," Tom instructed.

The quiet of the meeting was interrupted when the door was thrown open and Hermione marched in holding a large, clothing box. As she approached Tom she threw the box at his chest. "Oomph" Tom's breath was stifled as the box hit him.

"Damn it, woman, what is wrong with you?" Tom bellowed, not in the mood to deal with a crabby Hermione.

"This doesn't mean that I agree to do anything that someone wants me to that I don't want to," Hermione blurted out quickly and vehemently. Alphard looked to Casper, who looked to Radbourne, all in great confusion. Tom and Abraxas glanced at each other, as they were the only ones who had an inkling to what Hermione's ramblings were signifying.

"Also, I still think that you were wrong," now Hermione's finger was shaking at Tom, "and you should have consulted with me before you asininely promised anyone else anything from me or you!"

Alphard turned to Casper, "Are you understanding anything that is rattling out of Hermione's mouth?" Casper shaking his head muttered back, "Most of the time I don't, mate."

Tom in the meantime, was holding his breath that Hermione wasn't going to spill specifics about what had happened in the chamber. So far her cryptic ramblings were stumping most of the men.

Hermione stopped, looked at Tom like she was waiting for an answer and then clenched her jaw. Shooting daggers at Tom, she sneered at all of the men in the room and left the way she had come; slamming the door on her way out.

"Can we just start calling her, "Hermione the Tornado"? Abraxas asked laughing cautiously.

"What did she throw at you?" Radbourne tried peeking in the box. Tom slammed the lid back down on the box.

"I think I know what this is," he explained, "and I believe this is her way of telling me she will still go with me to the ball. " Tom lifted the lid of the box and pulled out a very grand Arabian Sheik's costume; the rich dark outer robes with white under robes and gold trim. Along with the headpiece it would make a very impressive costume.

"So what famous couple are you going as?" Abraxas questioned curiously.

"Hermione refused to have us dress as a well known famous couple. So I am an Arabian Sheik," Tom hesitated and looked around at all of his men, "and Hermione insists on dressing as a Harem girl."

Alphard with a dumb grin on his face commented, "I can't wait to see that," and was immediately knocked back into his chair by an irritated Tom.

"That's what I was afraid of," Tom glowered. "Now…where were we...oh yes, a replacement name for the Knights…"

* * *

As the Knights were meeting in the dungeons, so were another group of young men in the Gryffindor Common Room. The seventh year in charge inquired, "Are all of the plans in place for next Saturday?"

Another Gryffindor spoke up, "Yes, our plan to teach Tom Riddle a lesson is ready."

With a malicious grin and a clap of his hands he jovially said, "It is time to pay back our Head Boy for his sins against our fellow housemates." All of the gathered men nodded in agreement.

"The best way to do this is through his girlfriend." Hearing this comment, the laughter in the room rose to new heights. "Neither one of them will have a clue about this and boom, we will strike!"

"She isn't some sheltered girl who is afraid to use her wand…can we really handle her?" another boy asked.

"We have worked on a way to stifle her and her power that she likes to flaunt. She will not cause us any problems." They were all intrigued about how they would accomplish this, but knew better than to push their own leader.

"Remember," he directed as he looked at each man, "11:00 will be the hour and no one will speak of this again until 10:55 when we gather that night. Agreed?"

All the men nodded in agreement. The leader of the group smirked and thought of Tom's beautiful girlfriend, and how she would be caught in their trap and made to pay for her boyfriend's offenses.

* * *

A week later found the Slytherin girls gathered in Lucretia and Hermione's room to prepare for the ball. There was a vast array of costumes that were littered around the room; not one costume like the other.

Hermione stepped out of the bathroom and all of the girls squealed and gasped. None of them had ever seen a costume quite like Hermione's. Not one of them would dare wear a costume like hers, or want to deal with their boyfriend's reaction, as they knew Hermione would have to later.

Hermione was dressed as a Harem girl in sheer black material. She wore a black headpiece that covered her hair and a veil that covered her face. The costume came with a black bra trimmed on the underside with silver coins all around. The sleeves started at her biceps and came to her wrists. On the bottom she wore a black g-string with black sheer over pants; the sides split all the way from hip to ankle. Hermione was not afraid to bare her shoulders or her belly. She quite liked shocking the people living in this time. After so many years as "boring Hermione", she was actually enjoying being more adventurous in her clothing choices. Tonight was a night to awe Tom and all of the other males at Hogwarts. She wanted Tom to realize how lucky he was to have her and see how easy it would be for someone else to be attracted to her and steal her away.

"So everyone, what do you think?" Hermione asked as she twirled around the room. All of the girls just sat and stared, waiting for someone else to make the first comment.

Bravely Lucretia stepped forward, "You are beautiful, Hermione," then she hesitated, "But do you think that Tom will be angry when he sees you?"

Hermione started laughing, "Tom will be so full of lust he won't have any room for anger." Seeing the shocked looks on her friend's faces she tried to convince them, "This is just a costume for one night. I am not going to be wearing it daily to class." Now she was starting to get annoyed. "I thought for sure that I would have the support of my friends here.

"It's not that we don't support you, Hermione," Lucretia tried to reassure her; "we just don't want you and Tom to fight tonight."

"It will be fine, trust me." Hermione smiled and looked around to see if she was getting through to anyone.

Amanda came forward, "Hermione, are you sure you don't want to change the costume; maybe cover your stomach or something?"

"I will be fine. This whole thing will be fine." Hermione was tired of trying to convince her friends, "If Tom is totally outraged when he sees me, then I can always transfigure the costume a bit." It was as if she had spoken a spell and suddenly the cheery atmosphere came back to the room. Inside, she truly hoped that Tom would not go wild and would appreciate the efforts she had put forth putting her costume together. Anyhow, she couldn't wait to see Tom in his Sheik's costume. Once they were side-by-side, no one would think anything negative about her and her costume.

"I look…well…" Tom could not think of the words to really describe how he was feeling about his costume. All in Sheik's garb, he had charmed a beard and mustache on his face, and he felt very exotic and power; but he would never admit that to any of his inner circle. Looking at the others, a few wearing tights with their costumes, he realized that his costume wasn't so bad after all.

"So are you curious about what Hermione is wearing?" Abraxas was testing Tom's mood for the evening.

"Yes I am curious." Tom confided, "But I am also worried about the lack of clothing that she will be wearing."

"It's time men," Radbourne announced, "Our ladies are waiting for us to escort them to the ball."

Taking a deep breath, Tom grabbed his wand, tucking it away for safe keeping. Who knew what shenanigans would be taking place tonight; after all it was Halloween and he was still Head Boy even at the ball.

* * *

The men gathered in the common room and waited by the roaring fire. They heard the excited giggles first, coming from their ladies, before they saw them. When they entered the common room you could have heard a collective sigh of admiration from the men, as they looked at the women they would be escorting to the ball.

Tom could not spy Hermione for all of the big wigs and hoop skirts. The women came to a stop smiling shyly at their dates. As if on cue, the women parted and Hermione stepped in front of the men as they all openly leered at her. Tom was stunned at Hermione's get-up; even more so than what she had worn during their duel.

Speaking to no one in particular he asked, "So, when you see Hermione in her costume what do you think?"

Alphard, never failing to speak before he would think answered, "Fuck."

Tom turning to him said testily, "Yes, precisely what I was worried about when she said she wanted to dress up like a Harem girl."

As soon as the word flew out of Alphard's mouth, the smile left Hermione's face.

Marching up to Tom, with hands on her hips, she said, "That's not fair," Hermione said saucily, "I look…exotic."

Alphard hearing this whispered to Abraxas, "More like erotic." And he tried not to laugh.

Taking Hermione into his arms he looked down at her, "You really do look beautiful," and he lifted her veil to kiss her, "But I am just troubled by how all of the men are looking at you."

"What's important, Tom, is that I care only about how you are looking at me." Hermione said tenderly.

At seeing that Tom and Hermione were getting along at the moment, Lucretia let out a big breath and announced, "It is time the Slytherin Royalty made their way to the ball. Shall we?" Each male found his matching female and they started making their way to the Great Hall.

* * *

The doors to the Great Hall opened and they all were rendered speechless. Tom only smiled at the reaction coming from his friends. With Tom in charge, he had not wanted the typical "Halloween" decorations. After much arguing with Eleanor, Tom had finally gotten his way. The ball was taking place as a Moroccan fantasy. Tom had figured that if he had to dress like a Sheik, then the decorations would center around his costume. The exotic scene was set with sheer silky fabric draped from the ceilings to create a tent like effect. A Saharan desert oasis with a huge water feature was surrounded by sand and palm trees placed everywhere. Incense was burning in a rich fragrance from each table. The rich decorations were all in earthy tones of red, orange and brown and some cool blues; along with rich metallic gold.

Placed all around the hall were various baskets, rugs, paper lanterns, golden candles and feather fans. Real camels, donkeys and lambs rounded out the fantastic decorations. A special charm was placed on the animals to protect all of the guests from their smells.

The highlight of the evening was dinner served Moroccan style. . As they sat down, colorful, brocade cushions were arranged on the floor and dinner was served on a low table. Like a traditional Moroccan dinner, guests bathed their fingers with warm, perfumed water. The house elves walked around the tables with a pitcher of water and poured a little water over the fingers of each guests, catching it in a small bowl.

Playing in the background was a live professional Moroccan band, taking turns with a sitar player. There were snake charmers performing while dinner was being enjoyed. Fortune tellers were wandering from table to table giving fortunes to those looking for happy futures. Tom waved the fortune teller away when she came to their table. Hermione whispered to him, "I don't need anyone else telling me what I am supposed to be doing with my life." Tom of course whole heartedly agreed.

Dinner was a culinary masterpiece. At the center was Moroccan roasted lamb, cooked so tender that one was able to pull it apart and eaten with the fingers. It was topped with raisins and onion sauce. Also served was trout stuffed with couscous, almonds and herbs. Warm chickpea salad with ginger and carrot and orange salad, along with Turkish and pita breads were some of the side dishes. Fresh fruits and nuts accompanied the meal. For drinks, they had fresh mint tea and cardamom coffee. To top it all off were the Moroccan desserts; saffron and cardamom crème caramel custard and Moroccan sweets: rich dense confections of cinnamon, almond and fruit perfumes that are rolled in phyllo dough soaked in honey and stirred in puddings.

After dinner everyone sat and stared at each other with huge eyes. "Oh Gods," cried Lucretia, "I can't move, let alone breathe."

"Then it's time we start the dancing don't you think?" Tom bounded up and walked over to speak with Headmaster Dippet. "May I have your attention?" Headmaster Dippet spoke, "Now that we have all stuffed ourselves silly with that fine Moroccan feast, we need to thank our Head Boy, Tom Riddle and Head Girl, Eleanor Courcy for planning this fine evening." The entire room burst into applause and cheers. Tom and Eleanor bowed and he actually smiled at Eleanor.

"The ball will now be started with the traditional opening dance with our Head Boy and Head Girl in the lead." By all appearances, it looked as if Tom was enjoying his first dance with the Head Girl. Hermione standing at the side had her arms crossed in front of her with a stony look on her face. Over her shoulder she felt someone touch her waist and lean over to whisper in her ear, "It is only one dance, Hermione," Abraxas reminded her, "It will be over soon and then he is just yours for the rest of the evening." Leaning back into Abraxas, Hermione looked up at him and mouthed a quiet "thank you".

Tom, looking over at Hermione, wondered what in the hell Abraxas and Hermione were up to. With the song finally finished, Tom stomped over, looking quite menacing, and literally swept Hermione off of her feet and took her out to the dance floor. "You, harem girl, belong to me!" and he pressed her intimately to him. Even through the Sheik's robes Hermione could feel Tom's hardened state and how little effort it would be later to convince him to take her somewhere more private. Bending down Tom pulled down Hermione's veil so he could kiss her lips. As the lovers melted into each other, Tom caressed Hermione's backside. Shivering with want, Hermione stood on her tip toes to feel more of Tom while he wrapped one of her legs around him. Ignoring the fact that hundreds of people were watching them, they continued fondling one another.

"When do we get some of that?" questioned a Gryffindor in a back corner. "Shhh", was the answer back along with a swat to his head. "The time is soon approaching, it is 10:30, and we meet at 10:55." Staring maliciously at Hermione he added, "There will be plenty of time for all of us to have our share."

At the end of the song, Tom and Hermione left the dance floor happy and laughing. "It is such a wonderful night, Tom." Hermione looked at Tom as if he were already ruling the world.

"Does this mean that you are not angry at me anymore?" Tom looked with hopeful and loving eyes towards Hermione. Wrapping her arms around Tom's neck, she reached up to seize his lips, kissing him long and deep. Tom's mouth moved on hers savagely, as his tongue invaded hers, tasting the sweet tang of honey. As Hermione pulled away they both were left weak, dizzy and breathless. "I need to go to the loo."

"Hurry back soon, "Tom said suggestively, "So we can pick up where we left off." Blowing him a kiss, she grabbed Lucretia's hand and they ran off giggling the whole way.

* * *

"Are you having a good time, Hermione?" asked Lucretia.

"Oh yes, how about you and Abraxas?"

"I'm not sure that we are having as much fun as you and Tom," Lucretia smiled, "But I hope that things pick up before the evening ends."

"I can't believe that I am in here again. " Hermione explained, "I have been a regular visitor here the past two weeks. I wonder what's wrong with my bladder."

Lucretia looked at Hermione suspiciously, "Have you been feeling tired also?"

"I already told you that I have," Hermione answered, "But I have been putting in some late nights while studying my special research project for Tom."

"Ok…I have one more question to ask you…and don't get angry at me… when was your last menstrual cycle?"

"Gods, Lucretia, what are you trying to imply…oh shite, I don't remember," Hermione started panicking as she tried to figure out her cycle. Looking over at Lucretia with wide eyes she remembered, "I'm late…about 2 weeks late." Her breathing started to become uneven and she started to sway and Lucretia helped her sit down.

"I can't be pregnant; I have been on a contraceptive potion for years." Hermione tried to reason with Lucretia and herself. "I'm sure I'm late because of all of the stress I have been under lately." Hermione's mind was a whirl as she thought about the possibility of having a child growing inside of her. This is what Tom had wanted.

"Do you think Tom will be angry if you are?" Lucretia was worried about one more reason for Tom and Hermione to fight again.

Shaking her head she said, "No…Tom wants a son." That was all that she could explain to her friend.

"But you two are way too young and still in school." Lucretia's voice started raising, "You can't have a baby right now." Hermione sat in shock not really hearing the words Lucretia was saying. Pulling out her wand, Lucretia said, "I know how to do a quick spell to check to see if you are pregnant." Taking her wand and placing it over Hermione's uterus, she saw Hermione close her eyes.

"You need to open your eyes," Lucretia directed, "It's time to smell the roses. It's time to pay the piper. It's time to…"

"Stop with the clichés! I'm opening my eyes," groaned Hermione. In front of her, she saw the tip of Lucretia's wand and it was glowing a bright, pale blue. "Oh no," she groaned out again. Putting her hand up to her forehead she looked down at her stomach. "I really hate my life, but Flamina will be so happy now," she whispered.

"What did you say, Hermione?" Lucretia could hardly even hear what Hermione was saying.

"I said nothing…but you must not tell anyone about this. Promise me?" Hermione begged Lucretia for her silence. "We need to get back or the men will get worried."

As they stood up Lucretia looked at Hermione forlornly and hugged her tight. "It will be OK, we will think of something."

The two friends left the loo to head back to the Great Hall.

* * *

The hand came out of the darkness to strike Lucretia over the head. She fell down colliding with the wall and was dragged into a dark hallway. Another set of arms reached out to smack Hermione across the face and she went crashing onto the floor. Hermione heard, "Silencio" and mid-scream she realized nothing had come out. Someone jumped up and straddled her, pushing her back onto the floor. Another set of hands held her arms when she started to fight back. Trying to summon her power, she didn't get too far, when her mouth was forced open and she was made to swallow some nasty tasting potion. As soon as it went down her throat, she could feel all of her energy and power dissipating. Her wandless magic was not working and her thinking was becoming all fuzzy. What was happening to her?

"Stand her up," she heard a voice command, "Put the hood over her head." A rough hood was thrown over her face and she struggled to breath. Strong hands roughly grabbed both of her arms and they dragged her along the hallway. Hermione with great effort tried to resist, but she had no vigor left. Every second that went by she became weaker and more fragile. Now she could feel only the faint strum of her magic running through her. She knew that she needed to let Tom know what was happening to her, but was unsure in her current state if he would be able to feel her.

They reached the front doors and quickly dragged Hermione out and that's when true fear sunk into Hermione's heart. To be taken to a second location was never a good thing, and not being able to see where they were going was even worse.

Hermione stumbled and fell onto the cool grass, while someone kicked her in the side knocking the wind out of her. "Get up, bitch!" Strong hands yanked her across a gravel pathway and she felt the rocks embed into her knees. The blood ran down her legs, feeling cold, as it trickled onto her feet.

Screaming Tom's name in her mind, she felt hopeless and wondering if she would make it through the night.

* * *

Tom and Abraxas had just tried the Moroccan punch, which consequently had just been spiked with fire whiskey by Alphard.

"How long does it take to freshen up anyhow?" asked Tom "I thought they said they just had to visit the loo?" Tom looked over at the main doors to the Great hall, concern written all over his face.

"You know women, " Abraxas said, "They not only go to take care of business, but they also have to redo their makeup, laugh and giggle, and compare notes about their evening." Tom searched around the room to see if Hermione had entered while they were talking. There was not one sign of her; he was not feeling good about this.

Tom reached up to rub his face, it hurt and he was feeling very dizzy. What was going on and why was he suddenly feeling sick to his stomach? His hand started itching all around his Eternal Flames tattoo. He could feel that it was starting to heat up. Running to the doors, he ran out into the hallway and looked around. He could not see Hermione or Lucretia anywhere. For the first time in his life, he felt true panic overtaking him and real concern for someone other than himself.

_

* * *

_

Hermione's costume:

_**/wecs.php?storehalloweenmar&actiondisplay&targetLG8579BLK**_

Tom's costume:

**/ecommerce/control/product/productid005758184**


	14. Chapter 14: Payback

Warning: do not read this if you are offended at all by abuse, gore, torture or rape

Thank you _Nicole_ for being a great beta and friend! Thanks again to my great translator _somebodyinthedark._

**Please read the warning below before reading this chapter! Emotionally,this was the hardest chapter to ever write**

Warning: do not read this if you are offended at all by abuse, gore, torture or rape. I am warning you now, so you might just want to skip this chapter (even though it is a good chapter and you will be very confused if you don't read it) and come back again for chapter 15. This wasn't pleasant to write, but was vital for the storyline. I know that this is a horrible thing that happened, and I don't take it lightly, but was necessary.

Chapter 14: Payback

Tom's hand was burning as he looked down at his tattoo and noticed that his Eternal Flame was burning brightly. The pain was becoming more and more intense. Looking up at Abraxas he said one word, "Hermione."

With concern, Abraxas asked, "What about Hermione? Didn't she and Lucretia go to the loo about 15 minutes ago?"

With a wild look in his eyes Tom said, "I looked out in the hallway and I didn't see them anywhere." Tom stood there shaking his head. "I know that she wouldn't leave without saying something to me; especially tonight when we have been having such a good time and have made up."

As if someone had slugged Tom, he bent over grabbing his stomach. Alphard, moving quickly, grabbed Tom to help hold him up. "The connection between us has been getting stronger and stronger. When something happens to me she feels it. When something happens to her, I feel it."

"Well whatever is happening to Hermione doesn't look good right now," commented Casper once again as Tom grabbed his throat and was struggling to breathe. Tom reaching out for Abraxas's arm in a strained whisper said, "Gather everyone to go and search for Hermione …now! We need to find her straight away!"

The fanatical look in Tom's eyes was frightening, even to his men. "Yes, My Lord," said Abraxas.

"Be ready to fight in the robes of The Knights," Everyone scrambled away quickly as Tom sunk further onto the floor, trying to gather his strength. "Damn this connection!"

Speaking loudly, he called out to the Gods to send him the needed strength to fight his enemies who had Hermione. As he spoke the words, _"Potentia et vis" _Tom felt an energy surge within him and he was able to regain his normal breathing back and his power. He still was able to feel Hermione's pain and fear, but only on an emotional, not a physical level.

Radbourne came rushing in holding a bleeding Lucretia. She was still unconscious and her head was swollen and bruised where it had slammed into the wall. As they tried to revive Lucretia, Tom was anxious, knowing that he was wasting time when they could be searching for Hermione.

Lucretia started moaning, "Hermione…where is she?" and she tried sitting up. "My head hurts…a lot…oh"

"Lucretia, darling," Abraxas asked gently, "Did you see who abducted Hermione?" Abraxas heart skipped a beat as he saw what bad shape Lucretia was in.

Tom stepped forward and knelt down at Lucretia's side, "We must know anything you saw," Tom said softly, "She is in trouble; I can tell from our connection."

With great effort Lucretia forced out, "I'm sorry, Tom, they hit me first and I didn't see anything." Lucretia felt the tears sliding down both sides of her face. "Please… go save her."

Turning to Abraxas he shouted, "We need to find her now! I don't like what Hermione is thinking or feeling right now."

"Be ready for some bloodletting when we find who has taken her!"

* * *

Hermione could hardly breathe as the dirty wool blanket had been shoved over her head. They finally stopped after running hard for 15 minutes. Hermione had tripped several times and had been forcefully dragged then pushed up. Her legs were bleeding in several places. They came to some caves in the side of the mountain. As soon as they were in the caves, Hermione's hood was snatched off her head, ripping out many hairs in the process. Standing around Hermione were ten boys; students that she recognized as Gryffindors. Most of them were leering at Hermione in her skimpy costume she had worn that night to the Ball.

As they all gathered around Hermione she had no way of controlling her fear. She was there for one reason: they wanted to hurt her.

"What a pretty present we have found! The Head Boy's saucy little girlfriend," the leader reached up to run his finger across her cheek.

Hermione reached out to bite his finger. As she bit down hard on his pointer finger he yelled out, "You bitch!" and he slapped her hard across the face whipping Hermione's head.

"So you want to play rough do you? I should have known that Tom Riddle's girlfriend would be used to "playing rough". Let's play shall we?"

Hermione felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she knew what kind of games most men liked to play. Two of the young men rushed forward and roughly grabbed her arms and legs and tied her spread eagle to the cave wall attaching the ropes to hooks already there. Hermione was sure that Tom would be able to feel her heart beating all the way back in the Great Hall."

So does your boyfriend like to play rough with you, Hermione?" The leader of the group once again was right in her face and Hermione spit at him. Immediately he swung and slugged Hermione square in her stomach. She could not breathe as the pain on her bare stomach was intense. "You should show your captors a little respect don't you think?" he asked Hermione.

"I give respect to those who deserve it! You are a bastard!" She mouthed the words and as they fell from her lips the leader reached up with huge, strong hands and put them around Hermione's neck. As he squeezed tightly, Hermione's eyes locked with her captors. "Before this night is over you will learn a lot about being respectful to me!"

His grip became tighter and Hermione's air was fully cut off. "She looks pretty with this beautiful red color doesn't she? Should we try for blue?" The entire room of men all laughed until he let go and Hermione stood there gasping for air.

"We need to keep her alive; at least until Tom finds her...don't you agree?" said another captor standing close by.

The leader, with a gross leer, stood once again in front of Hermione. I think that she has too much clothing on, are you of the same opinion?"

As a wave of pure sickness rushed over Hermione, she knew that these men were gathered here to harm her and were out for revenge against Tom. Hermione knew that she was just a pawn in this awful game. Reaching to the top of Hermione's costume he ripped downwards and her bra was torn and her breasts bounced free. Ripping downwards again, the rest of the costume fell to the floor in shreds. She now hung there in only her black g-string. Her breasts heaved up and down as she breathed rapidly.

Her captors all stood there with sick gleams in their eyes as they stared at Hermione. Reaching up the leader cupped Hermione's breasts, "Nice tits," and he harshly ran he thumbs over her nipples that were pointed from the chilly mountain air. Bending forward he took a nipple in his mouth and sucked hard while the other captors drooled, watching their leader having his way with Hermione. He bit down hard, drawing blood and licking the blood off.

Reaching down, his hand ghosted over her pelvis and cupped her lower region, "Those are very tiny knickers, aren't they? I bet they don't stay on long when it's just you and Tom together; do they?" Hermione was trying desperately to push down her fears, but as time went on things were not looking good for her. They had only said they would not kill her before Tom got there, they did not say they wouldn't do anything else to her.

Rubbing Hermione back and forth on her mons, she tried to control her body so it would not betray her as he stimulated her. As she closed her eyes trying to stifle a moan mixed with a groan, she heard, "She likes this, don't you, whore?"

In her mind Hermione was calling out to Tom, "_Please come quickly, love," _Pushing aside the flimsy g-string, he pinched her clit and Hermione jumped. "I told you the bitch liked to be man-handled. Does anyone else want to come handle her a bit?"

In a surge they all came forward wanting to touch Hermione and she closed her eyes not wanting to see the crazed looks on their faces. As hands reached out she felt them on her breasts, stomach and in the curly hair that were now slick with her betraying arousal. Teeth on her neck bit down hard, drawing blood, while the fingers down below entered her, pumping and bringing a whimper from her lips. Hermione had no control over her body and wondered why she couldn't control her magic. She soon wanted to vomit when she felt hands spreading her bottom and fingers probing her anus, pumping in and out.

Hermione knew that she was being violated in almost every way a woman could, but still waited for more. She was no fool; she knew that her kidnappers were just getting started. Silently calling out to the gods for help, she wondered again why Tom wasn't here yet.

"You think that you are special, Miss Know –it-All, look my boyfriend is the Head Boy; but guess what? You are not special to us! You are just another cunt waiting to be fucked! "He took a knife out of his pocket, held it up close to her face and Hermione flinched. What atrocities were in store for her next?

* * *

Tom and his men were running quickly as they followed the trail the sloppy Gryffindors had left. The more they followed the more blood they spotted. Tom allowed the anger to take over as they neared the mountain side.

"Do you think they took her up there?" Abraxas asked. "I can't imagine they traveled that fast with her being in such appalling condition."

"We don't know how long of a head start they had on us." Tom yelled back. "I know they went this way…I can feel her."

Stopping suddenly, Tom turned to his men, "I am going to warn you now; when we get there you will not interfere with my punishment towards Hermione's offenders." The hard glint in his eyes showed the seriousness of his command. "This is my fight and my woman they have abducted." As Tom looked each man in the eyes, he waited for a verbal yes from each man. A nod and a yes from each Knight, spurred Tom on, and they continued quickly up the mountain to the hidden caves.

* * *

The light from the torches were reflected on the blade of the 12-inch knife. Hermione could see the glint from the reflection, as the leader twirled the knife closely around her face. Taking the tip, he lightly ran it down Hermione's cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. She tried not to shake as the madman wanted to play knife games with her body.

Gripping the knife in his fist he held the knife up high and swung quickly towards Hermione. She tried flinching backwards, but had nowhere to go, and all of the Gryffindors laughed at her terror. The knife stopped suddenly, at the tip of her chest. Chewing on his lip, he leered at Hermione and drew the blade across the front of her chest from the left shoulder, across her right breast and down to her right hip. Hermione could feel that he had stabbed deep enough to draw blood. Again, he raised the knife, this time starting at her right shoulder, drawing it across her left breast and down to her left hip. Now she had a big X marked into her skin drawn across the front of her body. Leaning back, he smirked at seeing his handiwork. Bending forward, his tongue ran along the lines of the X carved by the knife. His tongue was cold as he lapped up the blood trailing from the crossed lines.

Taking knife in hand again, he pressed hard against Hermione's body. He sneered down at her, and lightly ran the knife across Hermione's neck. She tried hard not to breathe as he brought the knife up high and cut the ropes that bound her hands. Then, he sliced the ropes that bound her feet. Hermione crumpled to the ground in a heap. Quickly, hands reached out and laid her down, spread eagle on the ground. These same hands forcefully held down her hands and legs. The leader came and stood over her, straddling her. As she looked up into his face, she didn't like what she saw; it was a mixture of lust and disgust. With a shuddered breath, Hermione closed her eyes, and held back a sob, begging the Gods to stop what she knew what coming next. Reaching to his trousers, he slid the zipper down and let them fall down around his ankles; kicking them aside. Next he quickly disposed of his boxers, setting free his engorged cock. Looking down at the naked Hermione, he ran his hand up and down his shaft, never letting his eyes stray from hers.

"Are you scared yet?" he asked her. "If you're not then you should be." Hermione couldn't answer him. "I am your worst nightmare ready to happen." At that he dropped down hard onto Hermione's pelvis and she gave a silent cry as he landed. He really had been right about one thing, what was happening was one of her worst nightmares. During the final battle she had almost been raped by Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf. If it hadn't been for Remus Lupin, and his quick actions, she not only would have been raped but bitten also.

Slapping her across the face he growled out, "Pay attention when I am getting ready to teach you and your high handed boyfriend a lesson!" Before she could see clearly again through the stars dancing across her eyes, he rose up and impaled her with his large cock.

Thrusting forcefully, he rode Hermione, laughing at each thrust, "Look at me, I am fucking the queen of Slytherin," Hermione didn't want to watch him as he used her. Each time she tried to look away she was slapped and forced to look up at him. She ached inside from all of the abuse she had been enduring that night; the kicks, the punches, the probing and now the rape. Soon the beast on top of her reached his climax and he spilled his seed inside of her. Hermione prayed that it would be over, until another boy took his place and started pushing inside of her, taking his turn with her.

* * *

As Tom and his men arrived at the entrance to the cave, what he saw sickened him. Lying on the ground, naked and bound, was Hermione being raped by a stinking Gryffindor. It took his breath away to see her, in such a sad state, laying there being abused. He wasn't sure if she was dead or alive until one of them slapped her hard and she opened her eyes and was made to look up at her rapist. Tom could feel the utter defeat and humiliation radiating off of Hermione.

"Get to Hermione and take her to the hospital wing as quickly as possible." Tom gave the command as he rushed into the cave. With no hesitation, Tom kicked the boy raping Hermione square in the face with his boot. Then the next second all heard loudly in the cave, "Avada Kedavra," and the boy slumped over dead. Hermione tried to scream, but again, the "Silencio," kept her quiet.

When Tom first appeared, wands were drawn on both sides and spells started shooting all around. Abraxas knew it was his duty to save Hermione and get her out of the caves. Running to her, he hexed a Gryffindor who was still holding her down and blocked another curse coming from the side of him.

Rolling to her side he leaned over her, "Hermione, can you hear me?" Abraxas was worried as he could see all of the blood covering her body. "Please open your eyes."

Groggy, from abuse and loss of blood, Hermione opened her eyes to see Abraxas lying next to her. Trying to speak, she motioned to her throat, Abraxas quickly seeing the problem pointed to Hermione's throat, "Finite Incantatem," and Hermione croaked out a small, "Thank you."

"I need to get you out of here," Abraxas tried to keep Hermione's focus on what he was trying to tell her, "In just a second I am going to lift you in my arms and run like hell out of here."

Hermione gave a small nod. "Where is Tom?" her parched lips were cracked and bleeding, "He came to get me?" Abraxas nodded and she gave a weak smile.

With tears threatening to fall, Abraxas told her, "Yes, sweetheart, he knew that something was wrong," and he wiped the tears falling down her cheeks, "You are fine, now that the Knights are here."

Tom, in his abundant rage, was quickly cutting down Gryffindors left and right. It was astonishing to the Knights that their leader was almost single handedly picking off his enemies on his own. The Knights were giving support, but it was the Dark Lord, in his fury at the abuse of his woman, that fueled the fire within him.

Abraxas scooped Hermione up in his arms and ran to the mouth of the cave; with Radbourne providing cover for him. As the mountain air hit Hermione's body she started shivering uncontrollably, and taking a handkerchief from his pocket, Abraxas transfigured it into a cloak for Hermione.

At the base of the mountain he was stopped as a wand was shoved in his face, held by a fanatical looking man. "You are not going anywhere with that whore!" he ordered. "I am not done with her or Tom Riddle yet."

Abraxas holding Hermione in his arms could not get to his wand and the Gryffindor leader cast, "Petrificus Totalus," and Hermione and Abraxas fell as the body bind locked up Abraxas's body.

Grabbing Hermione, the leader of the disabled group of Gryffindors pulled Hermione towards the Forbidden Forest. Dragging her through the branches caused more damage to Hermione's already battered body. Flinging the cloak aside, the crazed young man screamed out, "I want Riddle to hurt," and the tears started falling out of his eyes, "I want him to know what it is like to lose someone you love, like my younger brother whom he killed!"

Jumping on top of Hermione once again, he wrapped his hands around her neck and started squeezing the life out of her. Hermione lay limp in his arms, with no struggle or magic left in her. "I took your magic away from you," he screamed in her face, "He won't want you now!"

With the world swirling around her, she closed her eyes waiting to die, not hearing or feeling anything around her.

Tom stepped into the clearing to hear the Gryffindor shout out his words to Hermione. Stomping over to him, with only one intention, he raised his arms and with a flick of his wrists he drove him off of Hermione. Landing flat on his back, his wand flew through the air, and he watched as Tom Riddle stalked towards him.

"You are a coward…and this coming from a Gryffindor." Tom was almost upon him. "You had to attack a woman because you were afraid of me."

Still on his back he tried to crawl away from Tom, until, "Incarcerous," and Tom had him bound up so tightly he couldn't move.

Laughing the laugh of the insane, the Gryffindor spat out, "I beat and fucked your woman, Tom," and he sneered at him."She is damaged goods; you and no one else will want her now"

Tom clenched his jaw and the anger bubbled to overflowing, "Deprimo!" Tom shouted and he blasted a large hole into the other man's stomach and the blood started seeping out of the gaping hole.

Spitting blood out of his mouth, the Gryffindor continued his taunting, "I also forced her to take a very old potion…she is not a very powerful witch anymore…Shame."

As Tom let out all of his anger that he had been trying to control he roared, "You are going to die right now…You dared to take something away from the Dark Lord and that was your biggest mistake."

Standing over his enemy he demanded, "Now tell me what potion you gave to Hermione."

With loud laughter the injured man shook his head, "I will never tell you…that you will have to find out on your own."

Not wanting to waste any more time with this fool, Tom ended his life, "Diffindo," and with that curse he sliced off the Gryffindor's head and watched it roll away farther into the forest.

Running as fast as he could, he headed back to the castle fearing the worst for Hermione.

* * *

Abraxas burst through the doors of the hospital wing, "Please help me…Hermione needs some help…quickly!" After being freed from the Gryffindor's curse by Casper, Abraxas had continued on his journey to get Hermione help; leaving Tom to deal with his enemy on his own.

Looking at Hermione she looked lifeless with her bruised and lacerated body. Abraxas had also not failed to notice the large amount of blood that had been seeping from between her legs.

The school nurse came running as she saw the naked and wounded Hermione in Abraxas's arms.

"What happened to her, Mr. Malfoy?" she was appalled at the extent of the obvious injuries.

Abraxas laid her down on a nearby bed, "She was abducted, beaten and raped." Now looking at her inside the hospital, she looked even worse, more impaired than when they had first found her in the caves.

"Who did this to her?" the nurse inquired as she started doing several tests on Hermione's body. "She has lost a lot of blood." Running her wand over Hermione's pelvic region she gasped, "Oh dear God… she is hemorrhaging."

Tom and Headmaster Dippet came through the Hospital wing doors simultaneously.

"I heard what took place from Caspar, Tom," Tom had never seen Headmaster Dippet look so serious the entire time since he had been at Hogwarts. "Did you find who did this to Hermione?"

Ignoring the Headmaster, Tom rushed to Hermione's side. The nurse was busy performing many spells to stop the bleeding. Hermione looked pale and deathlike. Tom reaching down picked up her hand and started talking to her silently; trying to reach her through their mental connection. The connection almost felt like it was being blocked by a brick wall.

"Tom, I must know…do you know who did this?" Headmaster Dippet pressed Tom for an answer.

Tired of his questioning he barked back, "I took care of it!" and he rubbed Hermione's hand back and forth and across her wrist where the rope had left a large burn on her skin.

"Mr. Riddle, what do you mean you took care of it?" the Headmaster's voice beginning to rise. "It was not your place to take care of anything."

Jerking his heads towards the Headmaster and giving him a glare, he bellowed out, "Hermione is my woman. She was abducted and raped…it was my place to dole out punishment in any way that I saw fit!"

At Tom's outburst, Headmaster Dippet stepped back and mumbled, "We will discuss this later when Hermione is in better condition to tell us exactly what happened." He left the hospital wing to start investigating things.

Very softly, Tom turned to Abraxas, "Please gather everyone in our special meeting place in the dungeons." Looking sadly back at Hermione, he sighed, "We need to step up our plans that have recently been discussed. I will be there shortly when I know Hermione is out of danger."

Abraxas put his hand on Tom's shoulder and Tom looked up and gave a small, dour smile, "Also send Lucretia up here to sit with Hermione." He ordered, "I want someone with her at all times. There was a war started tonight and I want Hermione protected."

Abraxas nodded, squeezed Tom's shoulder, and left the hospital wing.

The nurse came back, "I was able to get the bleeding to stop, Tom," she informed him, "But I wasn't able to save the baby. I am so sorry."

Tom's hands started shaking hard and his blood started boiling. How long had Hermione known she was pregnant? It couldn't have been that long. Now his child was dead. There were many questions that needed to be answered as soon as Hermione woke up.

Lucretia came through the doors and hugged Tom. "Go, Tom," she whispered, "The Knights are waiting for you."

Tom stood, and looked back at Lucretia miserably, "She lost the baby." And Tom could tell by Lucretia's face that she had known about Hermione's pregnancy. "When did she find out about the baby?"

Starting to sob, Lucretia choked out, "She found out tonight, right before we were attacked." Putting her hand on Tom's arm she added, "She was scared, but I know that she was on her way to tell you."

Feeling like he had been punched in the gut, Tom was overwhelmed by the sadness of what had happened tonight. It had though, made him more determined than ever, to stick with the plan Flamina had outlined for him. It was time, to take control of the wizarding world and pay back those mudbloods and pureblood traitors who had sought to best Tom Riddle.

With renewed angry energy, Tom swept from the hospital wing and headed to his waiting Knights in the dungeon.

Coming in Chapter 15: Things will soon be changing for the Knights and the emotional recovery for Hermione and Tom.

_Potentia et vis: Power and Strength_


	15. Chapter 15: Asleep

Chapter 15:

Author's Chapter Notes:

Thank you for bearing with me through chapter 14...the most difficult chapter to write and read for me. But now on to chapter 15...the aftermath of what happened on Halloween night.

Chapter 15: Asleep

Sitting nervously waiting for The Dark Lord to come to the dungeon, were his Inner Circle of men. The men sat, looking at one another, still in shock from what they had witnessed up on the mountain. They had never counted on finding Hermione being raped and beaten. They also had not counted on The Dark Lord going ballistic and killing so many of the Gryffindors. It had been a terrible mess to clean up and dispose of the many bodies that lay littered around the cave and the forest. The two boys, still lucky to be alive, had been Obliviated, and dumped far away in the Forbidden Forest. What was to come next? They were all concerned about Hermione, but were not looking forward to their leader's display of anger.

As the Dark Lord came through the door, it was not like they had expected. Instead of an angry Tom, banging doors and throwing things, in walked a very quiet and troubled man. As he walked over to the table he looked around at his men and sat down.

"Your good work will not be unrecognized tonight," said Tom getting down to business in a serious tone

"How is Hermione, my Lord?" Abraxas .fearlessly chose to ask.

Tom continued talking; it appeared as if he hadn't heard a word Abraxas had spoken. Abraxas looked over at Radbourne with great concern. What did this mean? Was Hermione more injured than they had thought? Dear Merlin, please don't let her have died from her injuries. He needed to know, Hermione was also his friend. Abraxas also felt responsible for the fact that he had been overpowered by a fucking Gryffindor, which delayed him getting Hermione the medical help that she had needed.

"Excuse me, but I must have my question answered…how is Hermione?" Abraxas pushed Tom for an answer.

Gritting his teeth and with his nostrils flaring he bellowed out, "They killed my child! They almost killed Hermione!" Tom with a red face stood there shaking in front of his men.

"I'm sorry, Tom," Abraxas struggled to think of something more to say; feeling a little relief that she was still alive.

Alphard started to respond, "I didn't know that she was…" and Casper quickly put his hand on Alphard's arm to silence him.

"You do realize what this means, my loyal followers?" The Dark Lord questioned his Inner Circle.

No one answered as they all looked at one another, hoping that someone else would speak up first. Tom looked at each of his men sternly hoping that someone would realize what needed to happen next.

Rolling his eyes, Tom spoke briskly and firmly, "War was declared tonight on the chosen few of the house of Salazar Slytherin, by the Mudbloods, muggles and especially the house of Godric Gryffindor."

Walking around the room he continued, "It is time for me to shed the name of my filthy- muggle- father," he spat out as if he tasted something disgusting.

Using his wand he wrote his name, _Tom Marvolo Riddle, _out in the air. Rearranging the letters of his name he pronounced, "From this time forward, you, my loyal followers and the rest of the wizarding world will know me as _Lord Voldemort." _

There hanging in the air were the letters: _I Am Lord Voldemort, _for all of his men to see.

"For our remaining time at Hogwarts you will address me as _Tom_ in front of others not of our organization." He sternly instructed his followers, "But in the presence of each other I will be addressed by the name, _Lord Voldemort. _My namewill be feared among every being in the wizarding world."

All of the Knights looked at one another to gauge each other's reaction to this news.

"It is a name befitting one with power, my Lord," Radbourne said with bowed head. "Or I should say, Lord Voldemort?"

A smile played over Tom's lips as Radbourne made his pronouncement.

"As of this night," Tom circled the room as he addressed his men, "the Knights will be no more." Stopping his pacing, he looked to see what kind of reaction his announcement would bring about.

"What do you mean there will be no more Knights?" Alphard asked excitedly. "We can't just dissolve; especially after what they did to Hermione."

Looking squarely at Alphard as he would a child, he said low and firmly, "Did I say anything about dissolving our organization?" Tom was controlling his irritation, even though he wanted to lash out at anyone and anything within a 5 mile radius of him.

"There will be no dissolution, but there will be a name change as of tonight." Tom began his pacing once more.

"I have told you before that _Death_ is to be our mantra. Those who oppose us will die; they shall be with us or die," Tom's voice began to rise as he shared his ideas with his men.

"Those who oppose us will be eaten by Death; the snake will strike quickly and there will be no second chance given to those who go up against us." There were many small grins starting to form on the faces listening to Lord Voldemort. "I will find the way to conquer death so as to always rule supreme." Standing at the front of the room, he placed his hands on his hips and with a piercing stare declared, "From this day forth, you will be known as my… Death Eaters!"

Almost jumping from his seat in excitement Alphard exclaimed, "I will be your most dedicated Death Eater, Lord Voldemort." and he knelt down at Tom's feet with a bowed head. Looking around at his others followers, they quickly followed suit and dropped to their knees and proclaimed their loyalty to Lord Voldemort as one of his Death Eaters.

"You will be the leaders of my army to rid the world of the filth that pollutes the pureness of the wizarding world." Tom raised his fists in the air as if in triumph. "We will leave our mark on the world!"

"What is to be done next, Lord Voldemort?" asked Abraxas.

"That is what we will be discussing next, my faithful followers," The Dark Lord motioned for his Inner Circle to rise and be seated again. "You need a way to be identified as one of my Death Eaters. There will be no one who will infiltrate our ranks, we will know."

Up in the air, the Dark Lord conjured up a picture of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. Tom had been inspired for this design by the hiding place of the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. When he summoned the Basilisk it would emerge from the mouth of Salazar Slytherin. This was one more way to honor the great wizard that was his ancestor.

"This will be the mark that my true followers will be branded with." Walking to Abraxas' side, he shoved the sleeve of his shirt up exposing his forearm. "This mark will be located on the inner left forearm of every Death Eater. I will use this mark to summon you to my side."

Slamming his fists on the tables he shouted, "If we had only gotten to Hermione faster she would not have suffered so much," his face twisted in intense rage, "This mark will bring you quickly to me. When I activate the Dark Mark by pressing my wand to any Death Eater's inner forearm, the mark will turn jet black and you will feel a burning sensation."

As he made eye contact with all of his Inner Circle his powerful gaze made them all squirm, "Once you feel this burn, you will immediately apparate to my side. No more waiting for everyone to gather…and wasting time when you are needed to come to my service."

The Dark Lord became silent and looked over his shoulder at the door. "What happened tonight will never happen again!" His sudden burst of fury made all present jump in their seats. "We will never fail one of our own again…" The Dark Lord's voice drifted off into a whisper. They all remained silent as they pictured the bloody and beaten Hermione, almost dead, lying in the cave.

"I need to go to her." all the rage gone from his face leaving only emptiness. "Think about taking the mark. If you want to fully commit to me, this will take place two nights from now. But realize, this again is a lifetime commitment, once you take the mark you will be in my service for life." The Inner Circle all glanced warily at one another.

Turning towards the door, the Dark Lord, the new Lord Voldemort, quietly left the room; leaving a stunned group of men who contemplated the serious change and commitment they would soon make.

* * *

Hermione could not make out the sounds that were buzzing around her head. Her body ached so much and she did not want to wake up. If she was conscious, she would have to acknowledge the horrors of what had happened to her. The only way she would wake up is if someone would tell her that her being abducted, humiliated and raped had all been a cruel nightmare.

She wanted to see Tom because she knew that she had to tell him about the baby. Her head was so fuzzy and she couldn't open her eyes. The truth was she did not want to open her eyes. It was a much safer place, here in the dark, where no one could hurt her.

* * *

Slipping into the hospital wing, the sun was just beginning to rise, and Tom glided over to Hermione's bed. Gently putting his hand on Lucretia's shoulder he nudged her awake. Lucretia jumped, arms flailing and screamed, "Oh!"

"Shhh," Tom comforted her. "It's fine…I just came to check on Hermione." He looked gloomily over at the still figure lying on the bed. Lucretia sat back down and Tom sat on the edge of Hermione's bed.

"Has she woken up yet?" Lucretia looked up at Tom, noticing the dark circles under his eyes and the mussed up hair. She knew that Tom had been up all night with the Knights meeting in the dungeons. She had missed the meeting, having been assigned by Tom to stay at Hermione's side.

Tom stared at Hermione, gazing at the multiple bruises still lining her face and the handprints encircling her neck. Even he could not believe what torture Hermione had endured last night. Tom reached out and placed his hand softly on her cheek and brushed his thumb back and forth across her cheekbone. Hermione stirred and rolled closer to Tom, but still remained unconscious.

Tom knew that as soon as she woke, it would be his place to tell her that she was no longer pregnant. Resting his hand on Hermione's stomach and lower, where the baby had been growing, he drew small circles around and around her pelvis as if to make Hermione whole again.

Lucretia had noticed the sadness crossing over Tom's face. Never before had she seen Tom, more specifically, The Dark Lord, show any sadness over another's loss. Yes, it had been his baby, also, but Hermione would suffer more physically and emotionally.

"Tom, would it be all right for me to go freshen up?" Lucretia hated to disturb Tom as he sat so lost in his thoughts. Looking up, red-eyed and somber, Tom nodded his head yes,

"You need some rest from your own injuries, Lucretia," and Tom gave her a tired smile. "Thank you for being a good friend to Hermione."

Lucretia glancing down at her frail friend couldn't hold back the tears. "I wish I could have done more, Tom," she said between sobs, "If only I had stopped them before…"

"Enough, Lucretia," Tom interrupted her, "we can't change what happened in the past, but we do have power over the future." With a hard look on his face Tom continued, "There will be many who will pay for Hermione's pain and her…loss," his voice cracking at the end.

Lucretia felt a chill run through her at seeing the glint of revenge in Tom's eyes. She knew the Dark Lord well enough to know that he would show no mercy to those responsible for the atrocities that had taken place last night.

"I will be back later this afternoon," Lucretia bent down kissing Hermione on the cheek and then she quickly left the room before she started crying again.

Tom stared angrily back at his woman, his life, and his future; lying there, in oblivion, in the bed. The fury began to rise in his chest once again remembering the words the Gryffindor leader had so smugly shouted out to Tom before he was disposed of,

_Laughing the laugh of the insane, the Gryffindor spat out, "I beat and fucked your woman, Tom," and he sneered at him. "She is damaged goods, no one including you will ever want her again."_

_Spitting blood out of his mouth, the Gryffindor continued his taunting, "I also forced her to take a very old potion…she is not a very powerful witch anymore…Shame."_

Would Hermione ever recover from this? Would their relationship ever recover from what happened? This had all happened because she was his girlfriend. What would Hermione think about his new title and the new name of his followers? The many questions running rampant in his mind made his head hurt.

Tom breaking away from his thoughts; realized he needed to contact Flamina with his new plans and guidance about Hermione and trying for another baby. Flamina had been right; someone had tried to take Hermione away from him, permanently. If he had only taken that warning more seriously, but Hermione would never go for him babysitting her every second. He had done what Flamina said when it came to getting Hermione pregnant, but what good did it do? His heir had been killed and he, the great Dark Lord, could not save him.

Hermione stirred again, moaning in her sleep, "Save me, Tom…they are hurting me…where are you?" She started thrashing about again. Tom had to hold down her arms and whisper words of comfort to her, "It's fine, my love, I am here." Her words were like a punch in the gut, why hadn't he gotten to her in time? As he had told his newly named Inner Circle of Death Eaters, he would never allow this to ever happen again.

Tom brushed the hair back from Hermione's face, the sweat dripping down her cheek and landing on her pillow. He could only imagine the terrors she was reliving in her dreams.

"I wish that you would wake up…Hermione, please…" he begged her, wiping her pale face with a cool cloth. "You are safe now and I have so much I need to tell you," and he bent down to kiss her.

Clarice came through the door, just in time, to see Tom speaking softly to Hermione and bending down to gently kiss her on the lips. This soft side of Tom was staggering to her.

"Tom, I am here to stay with Hermione now," she said with a soft voice.

He looked up at Clarice and yawned, "Forgive me, I need some sleep," and he put his head in his hands. "I haven't slept in over 26 hours." Looking at Tom, you knew his words relayed the truth.

Tom stood up, "Please watch over her closely, Clarice. If she awakens, send word and I will be here straight away."

Clarice smiled at Tom, "You go get some rest, I will let you know if…I mean when Hermione wakes up."

"Thank you…remember, I want to be woken up if she shows any sign of coming round." Tom commanded.

"I promise…now go, you are about ready to drop," and in a surprising move Clarice embraced Tom in her arms and he hugged her back. She could see why Hermione felt safe in his strong arms.

Tom leaned down and kissed Hermione on her forehead, "Come back to me, love," he spoke quietly and turned to leave, glancing back one more time before heading off to his own bed.

* * *

Hermione felt Tom's warm lips pressing on her forehead. His strong, magical presence could even be felt in the dark place she was currently hiding in. She still felt so weak and had no desire to come back to the living. There was something terribly wrong with her and her magic. Something had occurred that had damaged her powers, but she could not remember what it was. She tried desperately to reach out to Tom through their mental connection, but something was blocking their communication. She knew that Tom would be able to figure out what had taken place; he would make it all right again. He was a powerful wizard and at this point, she was glad that he was on her side. She had found out the hard way who her true enemies were in this time period, and it was not the House of Slytherin. Now though, the blackness seemed to be calling her, and this is where she wanted to stay…at least for awhile.

* * *

Chapter End Notes:

_Some info about the Death Eaters was found at this site... __**www.harrypotter.**_


	16. Chapter 16:Riddle Me This

Author's Chapter Notes:

Thanks goes once again to my friend and beta Nicole...thank you to my loyal reviewers and readers

Chapter 16: Riddle me this

"Mr. Riddle, you must tell me if you know about the disappearance of the eight young men from Gryffindor house." Headmaster Armando Dippet questioned the Head Boy. This line of questioning had been going on for over an hour. Tom had stood firm and non-informative throughout the interrogation.

"Were these men responsible for Miss MacMillan's injuries?" Tom sat straight faced waiting a minute before answering.

"I know nothing about your silly Gryffindors. On Halloween night, we rushed in, grabbed Hermione and got her to the hospital wing as quickly as possible."

"Did you not recognize any of Hermione's attackers?" Headmaster Dippet pressed on.

"Sir, it was Halloween night, they were all in costumes and we didn't recognize anyone in that cave." Tom continued spinning his story, "Our main concern was to rescue Hermione and get her back to the castle as quickly as possible."

Tom acted disinterested and looked over at one of the portraits of a former Headmaster who sat shaking his finger at Tom.

"Do you realize, Headmaster; it has been a full two weeks since Hermione's attack?" Tom stared harshly at Headmaster Dippet," Do you also realize she is still in a coma?" Tom's voice became stronger as he spoke about his lady that was still slumbering in darkness.

Tom gritted his teeth, "I am not responsible for a group of immature Gryffindors," Tom stood up to tower over Headmaster Dippet, "who chose to take a holiday in the middle of the school year." Tom stopped, staring straight into his eyes waiting for a response from the old man.

"I can see, that we have come to no resolution today," Headmaster Dippet stood to walk around to Tom's side, "but if I find out that you had anything to do with the disappearance of these young men, then the Aurors will be called in to question you."

Tom unflinching, stared back at him, "I think our time would be better spent," Tom stepped closer to Headmaster Dippet, "if we looked for the beasts that terribly beat Hermione, over and over again bruising her body, from her face to her feet."

Tom stepped even closer, "Let's castigate the monsters that thought it was fun to carve deeply into her shoulders, breasts and hips with a 12 inch blade." Headmaster Dippet turned deathly pale.

"Let's reprimand those who stripped my love, and humiliated her by raping her in front of a room full of men." Now Tom was standing nose to nose to his superior, in name only, "I want …" Tom struggled for the words as he controlled the shaking in his limbs, "I want the bastards who caused Hermione to lose our baby…" Tom's voice was now to a whisper, "I want-them-punished."

The old Headmaster's bottom lip trembled at seeing the emotion surfacing from the Head Boy and bowed his head.

Tom glared once more in his direction and silently left the Headmaster's office with a disgusted look on his face.

* * *

Walking into class, so noticeably late, was never done with so much polish than when done by Head boy Tom Riddle. Looking straight at Professor Dumbledore, he gave a small smirk then sunk into his seat surrounded by his Slytherins.

"It was so good of you, to grace us with your presence today in Transfiguration." Dumbledore said with as much sarcasm as he could muster, "That will be 20 points from Slytherin." The giggles could be heard from a corner full of Gryffindor girls. Tom raised his eyebrow at Dumbledore's try at humiliating him.

Tom mouthed the word," Arsehole," as he and Professor Dumbledore stared at one another, neither letting their eyes stray from the other. Finally Dumbledore continued with his lesson.

"So does Headmaster Dippet suspect anything?" Abraxas whispered to Tom.

"He can suspect all that he wants," Tom answered back, never letting his eyes stray from Dumbledore, "but he will never get any information from me."

"They have to know by now that there are eight Gryffindors missing?" Abraxas questioned with some worry.

Giving a small snicker Tom said, "I suggested that they maybe had gone on holiday," Tom smiled, "I just didn't divulge that it was a permanent one."

Abraxas glanced over at Tom, "Did you stop in to see Hermione?"

The smile faded from Tom's face and he muttered a clipped, "Yes."

Abraxas still staring at Tom waited for more, hoping that the news would be good today.

"She has not changed at all," Tom quietly said, "After two weeks she shows no signs of waking up." Looking even more troubled he continued, "It's almost like she has given up…that she has decided to stay in the coma and this really baffles me."

Lucretia, eavesdropping, leaned over Tom's shoulder, "Have they tried everything they can?" Lucretia had lost weight the past two weeks due to worry about Hermione's condition.

"Tom there has to be a way." Lucretia, so close to tears grasped his shoulder digging into his skin with her sharp nails.

Turning in his seat Tom took Lucretia's chin in his large hand, "I will not stop until we have tried everything; every spell and every potion," he paused and made eye contact with her, "You need to remain strong…for Hermione and you need to take better care of yourself." Lucretia nodded and Tom turned around to find Professor Dumbledore glaring at them with suspicion. Tom, giving Dumbledore his best sneer, knew that this kind of behavior towards him and his fellow Slytherins was just beginning. The key would be training his followers to ignore the distrustful and keep their lips sealed and their minds blocked.

* * *

"Hermione…Hermione dear, it's time to wake up." As she lay in the dark void that had been her home for the past two weeks, Hermione heard a feminine voice calling to her.

"Hermione, you must wake up!" Hermione thought that maybe she had gone insane and was now talking to herself in a different voice.

"Go away." Hermione thought, I am just fine right where I am.

"You are not a coward, Hermione Granger, you were once a Gryffindor."

Hermione panicking screamed out to the darkness, "How do you know that? Tell me who you are!" she demanded. Hearing the female laugh loudly, Hermione cringed. When did her cozy little space in the universe become a corner in the psychiatric hospital?

"Because I know your true identity you need to awake so you can take your place next to the Dark Lord." Hermione was puzzled; she didn't quite understand the riddles this voice was trying to make her unravel.

"Let me put it to you plainly, " the high sultry voice explained, "Either you choose to wake up and accept your responsibility as the Dark Lord's mate or I tell him everything about you; including the fact that you are a Mud blood."

"No!" Hermione screamed back to the voice threatening her. "Please don't tell Tom anything." She felt a sick feeling soaring throughout her body.

"Well," said the female," then you must make a deal with me; the first thing that you must do is rouse yourself from the shadows where you have been hiding." Hermione felt a sting of irritation at the accusation that she had been hiding; even though she knew that the female spoke truthfully.

"I will try, please let me try." Hermione wanted to reach out and shake the voice that wanted to take away the man that she loved. "I promise I will fight, but please give me a few days." She could sense the desperation that was coming from her soul towards this unknown menace.

"Agreed; you will hear from me when you awaken."

"Who are you?" Hermione tried shouting out to her mysterious negotiator. No one answered Hermione. She was alone again, in her quiet, shadowy, corner of her mind left wondering what the bloody hell she had just agreed to.

* * *

Tom sat by Hermione's side holding her hand. She seemed to be very agitated in her sleep. After 18 days in a coma Tom was ready to admit that he was worried that Hermione would never come out of her deep sleep. The whole list of potions and spells had thoroughly been exhausted. He had been sure that one of them would be the key to curing his love who looked more deathlike as each day passed by.

Tracing along the side of her face and the line of her nose, Tom realized how much he missed her touch. He needed her back in his life, especially with all of the new things that would be taking place with the end of the school year in several months. The newly formed Death Eaters had been laying low so as not to draw attention to themselves. The investigation into the missing Gryffindors had all been closed, except for occasional glances from Headmaster Dippet or Professor Dumbledore. The two Obliviated Gryffindors had confirmed Tom's story, thanks to an implanted memory, that indeed the absent young men had decided to head out and travel the world.

In secret meetings the Death Eaters were being trained in Occlumency, casting unforgivable curses and making potions that would be considered "dark". There was much preparation needed in order to fully implement his and Flamina's plan to take over the wizarding world.

"Don't tell him," Tom jumped as Hermione screamed out, startling him out of his seat.

Bending over Hermione he tried talking to her, "Who are you talking about, love?" Tom held Hermione's hands in his. "Oh wake up, Hermione." she continued thrashing about on the bed.

"I promise that I will do whatever you say," Hermione again shouted out, but her eyes still remained closed. "Please…don't take him from me."

"Shhh, my sweet," Tom tried to comfort Hermione and he took her in his arms. As he held her he was very baffled about the things Hermione was screaming out. As quickly as she had yelled out, she just as swiftly fell back into her deep sleep.

"Hermione…Hermione…oh bollocks!" Tom kicked the chair that he had been sitting in. As the chair connected with the wall, Tom headed off to find the school nurse to relate what had just happened. After that he was going to try and communicate with the only person left who he knew could help Hermione; begging Flamina would hopefully bring about the results that he wanted to see, an awake and alert Hermione.

* * *

Tom silently walked the length of the darkened Chamber of Secrets. Not one to ask for help, Tom realized that every strategy to help Hermione had failed. He had exhausted every method of waking one from a coma that was available to witches and wizards.

As he glided towards the altar at the base of Salazar Slytherins great statue, Tom's mind was full of anticipation. Would this work again, him trying to contact Flamina?

Tossing his school robes aside he knelt down at the altar in his white dress shirt and black woolen trousers. Gone was the arrogance displayed during the previous ritual in the chamber. Before, Tom had come seeking ways to gain power for himself. Tom now bent down at the altar wanting something for someone else.

Taking a huge breath and slowly letting the air pass through his lips, he stretched his arms up high. Feeling the tense muscles tight across his back, he tried loosening them by stretching up higher and then he collapsed across the altar. Away from the always watching eyes of his followers and his enemies, Tom finally shed aside his cloak of superiority and let his human side be displayed. The tears started coming and the loud sobs escaped Tom's chest and echoed in the chamber.

"Why did it have to be Hermione?" he shouted between the sobs, "She did nothing to those fucking Gryffindors!"

Wiping the tears away, he stopped crying and tried to gain control back. As his breathing became steady, he closed his eyes, and Tom Riddle let his other persona, Lord Voldemort take over. Standing up from his kneeling position, he glanced around the chamber. He looked deep 

inside of himself to find all of the anger, frustration and disappointment residing in him to throw it all out to the world and use it as a conduit to contact Flamina.

"Flamina, oh great Goddess," the shout erupted from his throat, "I am in need of your aid and guidance."

Tom feeling anxious and uneasy ran up to the top of Salazar Slytherin's statue. "I call unto you; I am your humble servant, Lord Voldemort." His voice reverberated off the vast walls of the great chamber.

"Please…come and hear my plea." As Tom finished the last word of his sentence, his flesh tingled as he felt warm hands slide around his waist and up his chest. The strong scent of Kyphi Oil permeated his senses. He heard the low sultry laugh coming from behind him.

"You are in need of me?" Flamina's breath blew across the back of his neck causing chills to run through his body. "My humble servant, I am here." Slowly turning around, a grin crossed Tom's face as he eyed the exquisite Flamina once again. She stood there in all her glory in a sexy purple, empire style gown. It had a halter top that was trimmed with jewels and dipped low in the back. Flamina's hair was styled in a classic bun, pulled up onto her head and twisted around with intertwined flowers that matched her dress.

Flamina looked so stunning he found his body reacting to her closeness. As she leaned into Tom she rubbed up against his hardness feeling him lengthen and twitch. Knowing her great power and hold over this mortal man, Flamina wrapped her arms around Tom's neck, pressing her full breasts against Tom's chest. With all thought leaving his head, he brought his hands up to cup her full bosom. Flamina leaned in to kiss Tom and started grinding her body against his. Rotating his hips into her core, he was becoming so stimulated he couldn't think past the full, hot body that was awaking his senses.

"Do you want me, Tom?" she asked in an erotic tone. "I could give you the best sex you have ever had in your life." And she reached down to start unzipping his trousers. Moaning into her mouth, he realized how long it had been since he had plunged into a woman's soaking heat. It had been several weeks since he and Hermione…oh bloody hell! Tom pulled back from Flamina, as thoughts of his Hermione lying still in her bed and why he was down in the chamber in the first place.

"Flamina…Hermione…I want her." Tom said releasing Flamina and taking a step backwards. Flamina gave Tom a perturbed look and crossed her arms.

"She would never know what took place here." Flamina tried reasoning with him.

Tom, with more honor than he had ever shown before in his life, said, "But I would, Flamina; I would know that I had cheated on Hermione."

Flamina smiled and stepped away from Tom, "You have just proven to me that you are truly dedicated to the woman you have chosen as your mate." As she met Tom's eyes she explained more, "because of this devotion to her, I will help her and you."

Tom at hearing this declaration let out his breath that he had been holding tight within his lungs. A feeling of great relief soared through him that finally someone would be able to assist him.

"I will awaken her, but then she will also be under my power to do my bidding," Flamina, gracefully twirled herself down off of the statue, bringing Tom with her, using her powers. Tom smiled thinking he also wanted to learn how to do that trick.

"Hermione is special…and I will help her in realizing her great potential as your partner." Flamina slid up and sat on the altar. Crossing her legs, her dress opened, along the front slit all the way up to her arse.

"After she awakens and recovers, "Flamina commanded, "She will be brought down to me, here in the chamber." Tom wondered what exactly Flamina had planned for Hermione.

"I know you may be wondering what I want to do with Hermione." She could tell that Tom's natural curiosity was washing over him. "She will be trained in new skills benefiting you, Lord Voldemort."

Tom's characteristic eyebrow shot up and Flamina smiled back at him. "Yes, I know of your new name and your reorganization of your followers. I am well pleased with you, my servant." Slipping off of the altar she walked up to Tom and pressed her hand on Tom's chest, "I must go now…but if you ever need me in any way, just call for me." Her hands slid once again across his chest and down his abdomen softly gliding across his shaft. Inwardly flinching and trying to control his arousal, he nodded his head.

"Go to Hermione…she will be alert soon." Turning to go she quickly turned round once more, "But remember your promise to me…she will be mine to train as I see fit." Tom dropping to his knees grasped Flamina's hands in his and kissed them. Feeling her hands leave his grasp, he looked up to see Flamina gone.

Standing on shaky knees, he shivered thinking of the promise that he had made. Once again he had bound Hermione to something she had had no say in. If it meant saving her by making this agreement with Flamina, he would deal with the consequences later. For now, he needed to head back to Hermione and wait for her to arise from her slumber.

* * *

Walking into the hospital wing, he headed straight for the corner that Hermione had occupied for the last three weeks. Taking her hands in his, he looked down and thought that she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He would do anything and make any sacrifice to get her 

back. Lying down on the bed he took Hermione into his arms, with her head resting against his shoulders. He channeled all of his energy and power into her soul, willing her to wake up.

"Hermione, I need you back with me." Tom murmured softly in her ear. "I have missed you so much." He began to rock her back and forth, swaying in a rhythm that mimicked the last time he had held her when they had danced. "I need to feel your arms around me. I want to feel your lips on mine." He continued to speak tenderly to her, "I must make love to you again…to feel myself sinking into your tight, slick…"

"I will wake up for that." Tom heard the adorable voice that he so desperately had been wishing to hear.

"Hermione, love…" He looked down to see her looking up at him. "Please tell me this isn't a dream?"

With a weak hand, Hermione reached behind her to rub Tom's face. "I hope I don't look as bad as you do." With that statement Tom laughed loudly hugging Hermione closer to him.

With the sound of his laughter the nurse came running, "What is going...oh, Miss MacMillan, you are awake finally!"

Hermione looking confused asked, "How long was I out?"

Tom gently laid her back down and came around where he could meet her eyes, "It was going on 19 days, Hermione. We were afraid …that maybe you would never return to us… to me"

Hermione gave a weak smile to the man that she could feel such warmth flowing from him. "I would always return to you." The nurse slowly walked away to give them some time alone; she would come back later.

Tom leaned over and kissed her forehead and smiled down at her. "I will always be here for you." He caressed her pale, thin cheek that was slowly pinking up.

"You saved me…didn't you, Tom?" Her big amber eyes looked up at him with such trust.

Choking back a sob he managed to tell her, "I did the best that I could."

He was not yet ready to tell her everything that had happened on Halloween night. Chances are that most of it would come back to her. He also didn't feel like Hermione was strong enough to hear the hideous truth about her rape and the loss of their baby. He would tell her…just not at this moment. Tom just wanted to hold her and make her feel safe. There would be plenty of time to talk later about the ugly realities of life and promises that were soon going to have to be fulfilled.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: Kyphi Oil** by **Alchemy Works** is sold as magical oil, which is based on the 2200 year old recipe of Kyphi found on the walls of the temple of Horus at Edfu. **Kyphi **is one of the most ancient perfume recipes known to exist and there are many variations of it but they always consist of an incense compound macerated together with honey, wine, and raisins. This incense perfume was endowed with both spiritual and medicinal properties and burned in the evening by the Ancient Egyptians who customarily burned different kinds of incenses to mark the different times of the day. Edfu Kyphi more particularly symbolizes the transition from day to night.

Chapter End Notes:

Chapter 17, a very emotional one, will be up soon...I promise!


	17. Chapter 17: Recovery

Chapter 17: Recovery

The beginning of this chapter was written with many tears from me. It stirred up many feelings and memories.

Thank you Nicole for your help and support...you are a wonderful beta and friend!

Chapter 17: Recovery

Something radiating great warmth was lying up against Hermione's body. Reaching her hand down she felt around until she touched a hard lean stomach and then moved up to feel the strong chest muscles firm under her hand. Flicking her eyes open she looked over to see the most important person in her life smiling down at her.

"Tom," she said so softly and he kissed the top of Hermione's head while she melted into his loving touch.

"I'm here, love," Tom intertwined his fingers with hers, "I am never letting you go."

"I could always feel you there." Hermione looked into Tom's eyes, "Even though it was dark and quiet where I was, I always knew you were there waiting for me to come back to you." He remained silent as he held Hermione close to him. Tom knew what he needed to do and it needed to happen soon. How was he going to tell his love that their child had been killed by an act of violence?

Hermione, as she sat there questioning the silence, knew that Tom was holding something back. Pulling away from him she turned to face him. What she saw in Tom's face scared her.

"Tom, what is wrong?" she asked feeling the dread as it lumped in her stomach, "I know you are keeping something from me. " Hermione could see the tenseness in Tom's jaw. Starting to shudder and choke on her tears, Hermione put her hand on her lover's chest, "Please…what is it? I deserve to know what happened, please, Tom."

By the look on Hermione's tormented face and the pleading tone of her voice, Tom knew that he could not keep the truth from her any longer. The moment he had been dreading the past twenty days had finally arrived.

Looking deep into Hermione's questioning eyes he asked, "Do you remember what happened to you on Halloween night?"

"Yes…mostly; bits and pieces," Hermione's face showed the revulsion as she pondered on the abuse that she had endured that night. "It's something I wish you could Obliviate from my memory." Tom wished silently that he had done exactly that on the night she had been attacked, but he also wanted her to not forget the good time they had at the ball earlier that evening.

Taking a cleansing breath, he swallowed, realizing what a dry throat he had making it hard for the words to come out. "That night..." Tom looked away, staring at the wall so he wouldn't have to meet his love's pain filled eyes, "That night…your attackers injured you greatly. "

Tom looked back down at Hermione. "When we finally found you…Oh Gods…you were drenched in blood and…"

Hermione cut him off, "What did they do to me?" Tom jumped off of the bed, his body shaking with anger, grief and frustration. Turning to her, he spoke softly, "They brutally raped you, more than once…" Tom sensed the anguish bubbling up inside of him, "I didn't get there in time to save you."

Falling to his knees, by the side of the bed, he grabbed her hand and brought it up to his chest, "I am so sorry," he said with a regretful tone. Shocked at the words she had just heard, nothing was more surprising than hearing the words, _"Sorry"_ escape Tom Riddle's lips.

"You were bleeding internally…there was so much blood." Hermione's tears fell when she saw Tom's eyes watering.

"I don't know how to tell you…but…" Tom looked down at their intertwined hands, "Our baby didn't survive." An agonizing sob and a grief-stricken moan floated out of Hermione's mouth

"How did you know about the baby?" her breathing became more rapid and she started to become light headed. "Lucretia and I only found out I was pregnant the night of the ball?"

Reaching out to caress Hermione's cheek he gave a weak smile, "I know…I am not angry with you."

Tom heard a weak voice ask, "How…did it happen…how did our baby die?" Inside she knew what had killed her baby, but she needed to hear it straight from Tom to make it real for her.

"The attack, the rape was too hard on your body," Tom struggled to find the right words to explain about the gruesome sight they had witnessed when finding Hermione in the cave.

"Oh, damn…Hermione, do you really want all of the details?" Tom almost begged her with his eyes to not have to expand on what happened to her.

Wiping the tears off of her cheeks and using the bed sheet to wipe her nose, she coughed out between sobs, "I need to know the truth…all of it." Tom wiped off more tears that were sliding down her face.

"When we found you, love, you were bleeding heavily between you legs. In fact, you were hemorrhaging inside…" The look of total shock mingled with grief washed over Hermione's face. "The nurse was able to stop the bleeding…but she wasn't able to save our baby." Tom sniffed as he finished talking.

"No…no…oh Gods…" Hermione started screaming the same words over and over, "No…no…no!" Tom stood up and slid onto the bed and encased her in the safety of his arms. "It's okay, love…Shhh…It's okay to cry." Hermione continued to cry and whimper in his arms. They both held each other tight; the parents of a child…lost, whom they would never hold in their arms; a child they would never get to feed, sing to, play with and love. This was a changing moment for Tom and Hermione and one they would never forget …the moment that only parents who have lost a child would experience and understand…when a piece of their hearts was dug out, never to be replaced again.

"So Albus, you are one of my most trusted advisors, "spoke Headmaster Dippet. "With all of your wisdom, my old friend, what do you think really happened on Halloween night?" Albus Dumbledore noticed the slumped shoulders of his long time friend. In the past month since the Halloween Ball and the kidnapping and rape of Hermione MacMillan, it seemed as if the current Headmaster had aged considerably. Then with the disappearance of eight young men from Gryffindor and with no answers for the angry parents, Headmaster Dippet was ready to give up his job as Headmaster of Hogwarts.

With his hands pressed together, Dumbledore brought his pointer fingers to tap at his chin thoughtfully as he pondered the question posed to him.

"Armando," Dumbledore started out, "I think we both have a good idea about the happenings that occurred on the 31st of October." Headmaster Dippet sat quietly as his friend explained himself, "I feel that our Head Boy, Tom Riddle, was caught in the thick of the situation."

Headmaster Dippet, with a stunned look on his face exclaimed, "No…Tom is above reproach!" and he leaned forward in his chair to defend his chosen Head Boy, "All he did that night was to rescue his girlfriend from her attackers."

Dumbledore threw his head back in laughter, "He truly has you fooled, Armando." And he sent the Headmaster a challenging stare. "Who do you think exactly attacked Hermione and why were they never apprehended by the proper authorities?" Dumbledore continued his accusations against Tom Riddle, "Isn't it funny that eight young men from Gryffindor went missing the day after Riddle "took care" of Hermione's attackers?"

Rattled to the core, Headmaster Dippet spoke back, "Albus, old mate; I think it is you who is baffled about the integrity of Mr. Riddle."

Shaking his head disgustedly at the Headmaster, Dumbledore said, "We will see who is correct when it comes to the Head Boy and I sincerely hope that it is you who is right, my dear Armando, and not I."

Down in the Chamber of Secrets cries of "Imperio" and "Crucio" could be heard shouted out. The yells of "Stupefy' and "Petrificus Totalus" were bellowed, alongside the Unforgivable curses being practiced. The Death Eaters met several times a week to practice dueling and performing a plethora of curses on one another. As Lord Voldemort swept through his ranks teaching and berating, in the same breath, he focused all of his heated energy into the training of his Death Eaters. He had seven months to instruct them and for them to perfect their skills before graduation. Once graduated, they would start the campaign to slowly infiltrate the wizarding world.

All of this would be brilliant if it wasn't for the picture in his mind, of Hermione still in her sickbed, crying in her sleep every night. After the night of truth when Hermione had found out the fate of her baby, things had been tense. Tom was so frustrated that emotionally Hermione was still in a catatonic state. He had tried everything to bring her back to who she was before the attack on her. The only answer he had been able to get from her was, "I will never be the same, Tom. That person died on Halloween Night." And then she would clam up.

"Alphard, "Lord Voldemort shouted to his Death Eater, "You must learn to move faster or the simplest curse will take you down!" All of the Death Eaters knew their Lord had been an annoyed Lord, even after Hermione had regained consciousness; but his disposition had not improved.

"Touchy fellow, isn't he?" Alphard whispered to the Death Eater next to him. Abraxas standing nearby swiftly came over to Alphard's side, "Are you daft, man?" Abraxas shoved Alphard against the wall, "if Lord Voldemort hears you spouting off like that he will be practicing the "Avada Kedavra" on you!" Alphard paled as he looked over at The Dark Lord as he Crucio'd another Death Eater failing to meet his high expectations.

"OK mate, I understand" Alphard shrugged off Abraxas's tight grip on his arm.

"Stop…stop," screamed Lord Voldemort, his voice echoing off the walls of the chamber. "Do you think this is all fun and games?" he screamed throwing his arms into the air. With a flick of his wrists all of the Death Eaters collapsed on the floor.

The Dark Lord marched among his followers," If you are to be one of my Death Eaters, then your training needs to be taken seriously."

Getting redder in the face he went on to say, "There will be no room for imperfection or you will be dead."

As he walked among his faction, they scooted out of his way when Tom rushed by and he continued on his rampage, "Look at me!" he shouted, "I am Lord Voldemort. I will not have my name and my Death Eaters associated with the word _failure_!" All eyes were glued to the raging man rebuking them and not a soul moved.

"We will meet again tomorrow where you will show me how serious you are about being one of my Death Eaters."

Lord Voldemort started to walk away and turned around, stone faced and waved his hands around, "What are all of you lot doing sitting there? You are dismissed!"

Scrambling, they raced out of the chambers and soon the only person left in the cool, moist structure was a very miserable Lord Voldemort.

Late that night, after training, Tom slipped quietly into the hospital wing. Walking past some sleeping second years that had been fooling around that day during Transfiguration class, Tom made his way over to Hermione's bed. She sat there staring at the wall, not fully recognizing him as he stood there.

"Hermione how was your day?" Tom asked trying to be cheerful. Looking him in the eye she pointedly glared at him and rolled her eyes.

With no threads of patience left, Tom exploded, "Bloody hell, Hermione!" Tom quickly put a silencing charm around Hermione's bed. "It's time to leave this bed and start living your life again."

Hermione stubbornly looked at Tom, "That's easy for you to say," she said quickly, "you weren't the one that was attacked!"

Dropping onto the bed, Tom drew Hermione into his arms, "I know it wasn't me that was abducted and abused, "he tenderly kissed the top of her head, "But I felt what you were going through. I was the one left behind, not knowing if you would ever wake."

Hermione went limp in his arms. As her tears began to flow, she shifted on the bed so she could look at Tom. Lifting her hand to cup Tom's cheek she whispered, "I am so sorry, Tom," he began to protest but she hushed him, "I know you don't believe in saying you are sorry, but I must ask for your forgiveness."

Hermione stroked his cheek softly, "I have been selfish," the tears slid slowly off her face, soaking her night dress. "I am ready," she tried brushing the wetness off of her face, "I am ready to take my place next to you as your mate and as one of your devoted followers," and she ended by lowering her head down to honor the Dark Lord.

Lifting her head up, with a fire igniting inside of him, he fiercely kissed the woman sitting on his lap. As he was kissing her hard and deep, he realized how much he had missed this physical closeness with her. She snaked her arms around Tom's neck and straddled him pushing up against him, rubbing their chests together. Giving a loud groan, Tom pulled Hermione down on top of him.

As the kiss deepened, Hermione sat up and looked down at her lover, giving him a big smile. Tom looked up to see Hermione slowly starting to unbutton the top button of her night dress. Then she unhurriedly unbuttoned the second button, as she watched Tom mesmerized by her actions. As the third button was deliberately unbuttoned gradually, Hermione had a sly grin on her face, and Tom sat up, "Merlin, women…take the ruddy thing off already." He reached up and ripped open her gown spilling buttons left and right.

With a feral look crossing his face, Hermione knew her teasing had crossed Tom's line of tolerance and he was not in the mood for playing games. Reaching up to grasp Hermione's full breasts he felt like he was living a dream; but now his dream was moaning and writhing under his touch.

Knocking Tom backwards, she shrugged off the ripped night dress. Looking up and down Hermione's lush curves he gave a little sneer, "So, do you ever wear knickers at all these days, love?" Giving a light giggle, Hermione grabbed Tom's hand to place it at the apex of her center running it through her moist curls while she started moving against his hand. "I only go without knickers when I know you will be close by." Tom swirled around and around Hermione's clit as she continued to ride Tom's hand looking for fulfillment.

"Oh Gods, Tom!" Hermione breathlessly murmured, "Why didn't you come sooner to turn this fire on inside of me," and her juices flowed freely on Tom's hand. "I feel so much better now."

Tom loved seeing his aroused woman, ready to climax, "If I had realized this would bring back the old Hermione I would have done… this… much sooner." Watching her, as she rocked back and forth, Hermione opened her mouth and threw back her head, while making her series of tiny squeaks and moans that she always uttered when she came. As Hermione's body shuddered in delightful waves, she fell forward on Tom. He held her as he listened to her breathing slow down to a reduced rate.

"Thank you…for that," she looked up at Tom and he melted as he saw her flushed, rosy cheeks and her glistening amber eyes. Staring to roll off of him she began to unzip Tom's trousers, "It's your turn now." Hermione felt hands pulling her back on top of him, "it's fine for now," he held her tightly and brushed the damp hair off of her face.

Hermione grinned at him, "Your body is telling me another story," and she ran her hand down the front of Tom and grasped his length in her hand. "Oh…you are a vixen aren't you, my lady?" Tom felt the zipper once again pull down and a warm hand pull out his large cock, fully erect, proving that he had been lying. Hermione wriggled her way down and she stuck out her tongue to lightly lick at Tom's penis. As Tom felt her tongue brushing against his slit, licking up the pre-cum, his hips pushed forward shooting his full length into Hermione's mouth. His sizeable manhood hit the back of her throat as she moaned around him, sending shivers every inch across Tom's body. Sliding backwards, she made her way to the tip again and licked her way down to his balls sucking them, one at a time, into her hot mouth. Tom was slowly coming undone and she skimmed her tongue up along his length again and taking him into her mouth. Holding onto her full head of hair, he guided her into a rhythm heading him towards complete and total ecstasy. Oh how he had missed this! Tom came swiftly in her mouth and Hermione swallowed all of his cum. As he now regained his normal breathing patterns, Hermione sat up licking her lips wearing a lopsided grin and Tom grasped her to him to kiss those wonderful lips that had just given him such bliss.

"You need to rest now…I don't think the nurse would approve of our extracurricular activities." Tom pulled Hermione down to him, kicked off his shoes and cast wards around the screened bed. He pulled the sheets and blankets over the two of them. "I'm not going anywhere tonight," Tom reassured Hermione as she snuggled into his arms.

Life was back on track; his mate was alive, healing, both physically and emotionally and ready to support him. The Death Eaters were shaping up and all of his plans were going as he wanted. Lord Voldemort would reign supreme and now once again the prophecy could be fulfilled.

He fell asleep, holding Hermione tightly in his arms, repeating the words of the prophecy to himself, "He who was born from the Slytherin blood, holds the most power and skill. The Slytherin heir shall be gifted with a mate of equal power and skill. As they are bonded, they shall rule and be graced by the God's blessing. The two shall create a world where the superior shall reign and where their child will someday rule supreme."

Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord, forever to be known as Lord Voldemort, fell asleep at last with a satisfied smile on his face.

Coming in Chapter 18: Guess who's heading back to the chamber?


	18. Chapter 18: Meet the Other Woman

Chapter 18: Meet the other Woman

Thanks to Nicole, the most understanding and helpful beta in the world. Thanks must also go to

_Somebodyinthedark_ who helped me come up with the ideas for Hermione's new powers; he gave life to her new magic.

Chapter 18: Meet the other Woman

The screech could be heard throughout the bowels of the castle.

"Why can't I do magic?" Hermione stood there holding her wand limply in her hand.

"What happened to me, Tom? What did you forget to tell me?" Hermione wearing a mask of fury threw her wand at Tom. The wand hit Tom square in the chest.

Tom, the loving boyfriend, was losing the war against the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Trying to squelch the intense ire from Hermione's temper tantrum, Tom turned his back to her.

"What the fuck is going on?" Hermione screamed at him.

Whipping around in a fury, Tom roughly grabbed Hermione by the shoulders and shoved her against the wall. As she slammed hard into the wall, Hermione realized that she had pushed him too far.

Tom stood there holding her in a bruising grip, "It happened that night, as soon as you were attacked."

He conveyed the information slowly as he stared at her intently, "The bastard who was behind all of this, he confessed what he did…right before I ripped his head off," Tom stood there with teeth clenched, breathing hard, making Hermione cower.

Feeling the nausea rise in her throat, the harsh reality of who she was in love with struck her hard. Tom had killed other people, her attackers, even though it was in her defense.

With a heaving chest, trying to suck in enough air to breathe after hearing this news, Hermione pushed against Tom, "I just want to know why I am no longer able to do magic." The tears were making a wet path down her face. "I am no better than a squib."

"Will you calm down enough so that we can go sit down and discuss this?" Tom emphasized his words by moving her head to look at him straight in the face. "You need a clear head to understand what I am about to detail for you."

Hermione nodded her head and with a sneer shrugged Tom's hand away. As she flounced herself on the bed, she crossed her arms and looked up at Tom as the silent tears continued to cascade down her cheeks landing in her lap.

Tom gave a big sigh and sat down next to Hermione. "Your attackers planned ahead to disable your magic as soon as they attacked you." Tom picked up her small hand to grasp in his rather large ones. "There was a potion…now before you ask about it…" Tom could tell that she was ready to question him about the name as she sat there with mouth open, "We don't know what it was. All that we know is that it extinguished your ability to do magic."

Hermione gave a panicked laugh, "So I was right," she moaned painfully, "The powerful Dark Lord has a squib for a girlfriend! You might as well go out and kill me now; I am no use for you or your cause!"

Tom gobsmacked by her response didn't know whether to smack her across the face or hug her to him; he stood and walked over to her and gently gave her a hug.

"There is a way, love," he soothed her with his soft voice and rubbing soft circles on her back, "There is only one way to get your magic and power back."

With a questioning look, Hermione raised her head to listen to what Tom had to say.

"Do you remember that I spoke to you about the Goddess, Flamina?"

Hermione grunted, "How could I forget her...huh?" and she shot off an angry stare at him.

Tom shook his head at her sarcasm, "She is giving you a chance to be a powerful witch again… you don't have to be so stubborn."

"So…" Hermione asked in a disgusted voice, "Does she want my soul too?"

Slamming his fist into the wall Tom confronted Hermione, "You have to decide whether you want to live your life as a squib," Tom quirked his eyebrow at her, "Or do you want to once again become the powerful witch that was prophesied to be my mate and the mother of my child?"

Hermione shaking her head complained, "There has to be another way to reverse the effects of the potion," As she voiced disapproval at Tom and Flamina's plan.

"Hermione, we don't even know the bloody name of the concoction that they forced you to swallow." Tom ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, what is your decision?" and he shook his hand which he had bruised when he had slammed it into the wall. Hermione sat stone faced not reacting to what Tom had said.

"Frankly, "he said gruffly, "I don't see that you really have a choice." With one more look at Hermione, as she sat quietly in her dissent, Tom sighed and left the room.

Hermione looked at the closed door and spoke out loud, "If I don't do this I'm going to lose Tom," she knew that Tom was right, she really did have no choice. "It looks like Flamina has won again." She jumped off of her bed and hurried out of her room to run after Tom.

* * *

Bursting through the door to his bedroom Tom threw his robes off tossing them on the floor and kicked off his shoes. "Why does she have to be so pigheaded?" he started unbuttoning his white school shirt and deposited that and his trousers on the floor next to his school robes.

Lying on the bed, in his dark green silk boxers, he closed his eyes contemplating on this dilemma. He knew that Hermione needed to come on her own to Flamina, or she would never accept whatever Flamina had in store for her. He had tried to force his inflexible mate into doing his will before, and it always seemed to bring fights and disasters. What kind of a Dark Lord was he if he couldn't even control his own girlfriend?

The door flung open and he heard a gasp, "Why are your clothes off?" opening his eyes he grinned up at Hermione, "So what do I owe the pleasure of your company at this time of night?" He boldly pressed his luck with her, "I thought you wanted to be left alone in your room to sulk about your fate as a squib."

"Umm…" she hesitated, ignoring his attempt to annoy her, and she continued staring at Tom, looking just as regal in his boxers as he did when wearing his dress robes, "I…have made a decision…" she said not able to take her eyes off of his chest and the silky boxes that didn't hide how he was feeling at the moment.

Tom noticing her unease crossed his arms over his chest and crossed his ankles and lazily smirked up at her. "Yes…I was just thinking about that, I..." she said distracted by Tom's movements on the bed.

"Are you getting ready for bed?" Hermione asked getting a glassy look in her eyes as she let her sight travel up and down Tom's long, lithe form.

"Oh, Hermione, "he drawled at her as he put his hands behind his head, making his chest muscles puff out even more, "You know me well enough to know that I wear nothing at all to bed." Tom put his hand on the band of his boxers and started to pull them down, "I was just getting ready to turn in," and he swiftly pulled his boxers all the way off.

Hermione stood there and gaped at her very naked boyfriend, noticing how his cock was becoming stiffer and longer the more she stood there staring at him. Tom was trying hard to control himself knowing that they needed to talk even though his body wanted something else.

As Hermione bit her lip, feeling the heat pooling in her core and her knickers becoming wet, she closed her eyes and started talking again. "I thought about it…" Tom tried hard not to laugh out loud as he watched Hermione stand there with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. It was fun for him to see her squirming as she tried to spit out what she was trying to say to him.

"Tom…I think…I want to at least give…Flamina an opportunity to divulge what she has designed for me and us so…" Tom burst out laughing at Hermione's speech.

She opened her eyes and stomped her feet, "I am serious, Tom…I want to talk to her…I agree with you that this is the only way."

Tom smiled up at her and opened his arms for her to come to him. She beamed back at him and leapt onto the bed. She crawled over to him and threw her arms around his neck. As they snogged on the bed Hermione's clothes joined Tom's on the floor. She locked her legs around Tom's waist and sat fully on Tom's length. Tom's hands traveled up Hermione's breasts and circled her nipples as he sucked on the side of her long neck. As they rocked together in their lovers dance, Tom plunged into his woman's core and soon brought them both to that pinnacle of completion. As Hermione lay on Tom's chest she looked into Tom's eyes, "You are mine and I will never lose you to anyone or anything. " She leaned forward to kiss Tom again. "I will do anything to assure that we will always be together…even if that means I have to talk... to Flamina."

Tom ran his hand up Hermione's arm and to her flushed face, "Thank you…I knew that you would see my reasoning." then he lifted her hand up to kiss the Eternal Flame tattoo on her palm.

"When can we talk to her, Tom?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"I believe that we can take care of this tomorrow night," Tom told her, "we will be going down to the Chamber of Secrets to communicate with her."

Hermione shook her head, "I really don't want to go down there," she said and started chewing on her fingernail. "It sounds like a scary, creepy place."

"Nothing will happen to you in the chamber…except you will get your magic back," Tom hugged her close to him. "Let's go to sleep now…it's too late to have you wandering around...especially in your current state of undress." Tom snickered.

They snuggled down in the bed .Hermione fell asleep wrapped in her lover's arms, trying not to think about Flamina, the chamber and the monster that lived down there.

* * *

"Tom, I don't like it down here." Hermione grasped his hand tightly. Being in the Chamber of Secrets was very eerie for Hermione. Harry had recounted many times for his friends about his near death experience in the chamber. Just knowing that the basilisk, that Harry killed in the future, was still alive now, made Hermione's stomach turn. Would the basilisks sense Hermione's bloodline and come to attack her, especially now that she was without her magic?

She tried to remain calm and trust in the fact that Tom had complete control over his basilisk. It's not like she could question him about the basilisk.

It smelled funny down in the chamber and she was very jumpy. "What is wrong, Hermione?" Tom squeezed her hand in reassurance that all was well, "I am here…you are safe." Tom knew that Hermione had been rather on edge ever since she had awoken from her coma.

They came to the mouth of the statue of Salazar Slytherin. Hermione looked up in awe as she thought of Harry standing there, on the top of the statue, where he had killed the basilisk. Looking around more she noticed an altar like the one that had been used during her initiation.

"So how do we summon Flamina?" Hermione was curious what the procedure was to speak to a Goddess.

Taking off his robes he motioned for Hermione to come and stand by him, "Take your robes off, love…we need to kneel here in submission or she won't listen to our pleas." Hermione was puzzled at this request, but complied. As they knelt, they held hands so their Eternal Flames tattoos were touching.

With a lowered head Tom yelled out, "Oh great Goddess Flamina," Hermione jumped again as Tom shouted out, "We are here to ask of you another request." Hermione bowed her head, but peeked with one eye to see if anything was happening.

"If you do not help us the prophecy will never be fulfilled." Tom bellowed out in a pleading tone. As a breeze swept past them, the strong scent of Kyphi oil filled the chamber. Hermione looked up when she heard the sound of feminine laughter. There, standing in front of them was the most beautiful women Hermione had ever beheld; with her long, dark hair reaching her waist, gorgeous big eyes and full, colored lips. Hermione stood there agog.

Flamina swayed over to Tom, now standing, and she placed her well manicured nails on Tom's chest. "Well, if it isn't the powerful Lord Voldemort calling for me once again," she said as she now ran her hands through Tom's thick, hair.

A gasp could be heard coming from Hermione. Tom looked nervously at Hermione thinking she was reacting to Flamina's bold manhandling of him. In truth, she was shocked that she had not been informed that now Tom was being addressed as Lord Voldemort. What else had happened while she had been in her coma? The next thing she would hear is that the Knights were probably going to be called Death Eaters.

"Ahh," said Flamina in a sticky sweet voice, "This must be Hermione," and she walked over to her to cup her cheek in her hand. Hermione stood, holding deathly still as she stared at Flamina. "Where are your manners, child?" Flamina asked mockingly.

Tom looked at her nudging Hermione in the arm, "Address her, Hermione…please," Tom insisted. Timidly, Hermione whispered, "Hello, Flamina."

Looking at Hermione, as if inspecting her from head to toe, she gave a sly grin. "So you are the prophesied mate for Lord Voldemort?" Hermione felt very inadequate as she stood next to Flamina. Not only was she five inches shorter than her, but Flamina was indeed dressed like a Goddess. Flamina wore a gorgeous white dress with beaded embellished straps and an empire waist. Beads also dripped down to the ground towards the floor making her shine in the light. The back of the dress was sexy, low and open. With a sweetheart neckline emphasizing her large breasts, the fitted shape of the gown flattered her curves while flowing around her feet.

Flamina slinked her way back to Tom pressing herself flat against him while she wound her arms around Tom's neck. "What does my handsome servant need now?" she inquired as she wriggled her body against Toms. Hermione felt the steam emanating from her body; what kind of a relationship did Tom really have with Flamina? Hermione could hardly breathe as she watched Flamina undulate her sexy body up against Tom. What did this woman want to do with her man? Reaching out, she grabbed Tom's arm and pulled him to her knocking Flamina back into the altar. Flamina sent a cunning look Hermione's way. The battle apparently was on between the two women for Tom's attention.

Hermione sent daggers Flamina's way. Goddess or not…she did not like the open way Flamina was touching Tom.

"Tsk, tsk, my little Hermione," Flamina said in a patronizing tone, "is that any way to act towards the woman who will make all of your dreams come true?"

Hermione tried to think of the words to express how she was feeling. "You were touching him," Hermione cried out bitterly.

Acting innocent, Flamina fluttered her eyelashes, "Touching who, Hermione?"

Hermione clenched her fists and shook them by her side, "you know who I am speaking of…Tom is my man, my mate!"

Flamina gave a high shrill laugh, "Oh, but you are wrong," she marched up to Hermione, "Tom…Lord Voldemort …he belongs to me!" grabbing Hermione's face with her long fingers, she pressed hard into the young woman's face, "You will remember your place, my dear," and she leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Miss Granger". Giving Hermione a glare, she noticed the fear cross her face, "I have the power now and you will listen to me." Hermione opened her mouth to speak until she recognized the no-nonsense fire sparking in Flamina's eyes.

"It was you…wasn't it? Hermione narrowed her eyes towards Flamina.

"You were the one who spoke to me while I was asleep in the coma."

Flamina smiled at Hermione, "Yes, my dear, it was I."

Tom looked from Flamina to Hermione with great surprise. Hermione had never mentioned any encounter happening in her sleep.

"Do you remember what we discussed?" Flamina walked over to Hermione and shot a piercing gaze at her.

Flustered, Hermione stared at the ground, "Yes…I remember," and looking up she returned Flamina's penetrating stare. "What do I need to do?"

Tom listening carefully also wondered what kind of agreement had taken place between the two women in his life.

"It is time that we discussed the terms of our agreement." Looking towards Tom she flicked her wrist at him, "Sleep," and Tom fell to the ground. Hermione shocked at Flamina's action, bent down to check Tom's pulse.

"He's still alive, my dear," Flamina laughed, "What is said must be kept between the two of us."

Hermione ran her hand over Tom's forehead with worry, "Are you sure he is fine…he looks so still."

Flamina gave her low, sultry laugh again, "Yes…your lover will be returned to normal after we speak. But now, let's discuss you, Hermione…Granger"

Sucking in her breath at hearing her real name, Hermione leaned back against the altar, "Talk, Flamina," she said challengingly, ''what must I do? I need Tom in my life…he is all that I have." Her voice trailed off softly.

"Take a seat," Flamina directed, so Hermione looked around and hopped up onto the altar and crossed her legs.

"So, getting back to our little agreement, "Flamina stopped in front of Hermione, "You made a promise to me while you were sleeping and hiding in the darkness." She paused to see Hermione's response

Hermione looked off to the side, noticing Flamina standing tall and proud "I do remember….I committed to stand by Tom and help him anyway that I can." Hermione jumped down off of the altar. "But I cannot help him if I am a squib!"

Flamina wanted to clap her hands and jump for joy to finally see some life and fire in Hermione. This was the woman who was worthy of her servant, not something meek and docile.

"My magic was taken away from me…by a potion we have no name for it." Hermione tried explaining the situation to Flamina. "Tom said that you have the power to reverse the effects and help me restore my powerful magic."

Flamina turned around, "Are you sure you are going to be able to handle the powers I will give to you?" Flamina rushed back to her, "My first gift to you is a powerful use of your mind." Flamina's eyes lit up as she bestowed this information to Hermione. "You will be able to use your mind to control and defeat very powerful wizards."

Flamina then gave a big smile, "You will become a master of Occlumency, which will be able to secure your little secret, "she gestured towards Tom, "Even from him."

"More importantly, you will become the Mistress of Deception." Hermione stared at Flamina in wide-eyed expectation, "You will acquire the power of fouling your enemies mind; creating false images that will make them suffer from a very uncomfortable hallucination."

Hermione was transfixed as Flamina was talking, she could not believe that she would have powers such as this to have control over another's mind.

"Hermione, let me give you an example, if you are dueling with a powerful wizard that you can't overpower with your strength, you will use your gifts to create an illusion in which the wizard or witch is bound, gagged and tortured." Flamina came up and grabbed Hermione's hands, "Your enemy will appear weak, and defenseless; when in reality only the poor wizard's brain will think he or she is being punished by let's say, the Cruciatus curse." Flamina by this time, was so worked up she was flushed looking like she had just been running through the chamber; "The enemy's body will not be harmed at all, but will feel all of the pain that could be forced on a body."

Flamina looked very pleased at her plan. Hermione had not moved a muscle or said a word. It was all very overwhelming to her that she would have such powers.

"One more peaceful way to use your power," Flamina gave a saucy, sexy smile, "You will be able to teleport anyone, say you and Tom, to a beautiful tropical paradise for a nice shag on the beach" Hermione grinned wildly at this suggestion," of course you would do this with your mind, but it would feel just as real as the Cruciatus curse would be to an enemy."

Coming up to Hermione Flamina placed her hands on her shoulders, "I must emphasize to you though, "she said very directly, "All of these powers must be used to further Lord Voldemort's work or they will be taken away."

Looking shocked by her declaration, Hermione shot back, "You must promise me a few things if you want me to agree with your terms." Flamina's eyes widened at Hermione's gumption, "I want to be reassured that Tom will truly be mine and that I will have his child." Now it was Hermione's turn to be demanding, "I also want to be assured that you will not ask for my soul…because you will not receive it!" Hermione crossed her arms in front of her. She would not be a servant to this woman…Goddess or not!

"I also want you to help me become immune to Dark Magic," Hermione had the nerve to say.

"Why would you want that?" Flamina questioned her in a high voice. "The magic you will be producing will be of the darkest variety."

"Yes…I am aware of that, Flamina," she said in a bitter tone, "but, I want to be able to handle any wizard or witch, Tom included, from controlling me with Dark Magic."

Pacing back and forth Flamina stopped, with her hands on her hips, "You want to be more powerful than Lord Voldemort himself?" Shaking her head Flamina said, "I cannot do that!"

"Yes you can and you will," Hermione rushed forward now with her hands on her hips. "I need ways that will be able to protect my child from all enemies…which some day may even include his own father."

If the fire between the two women could have been seen, one would have witnessed an inferno blazing brightly. Flamina could not deny though how impressed she was with Hermione's nerve. She was in a precarious position at the moment, no magic in her frame, but standing up to her like a Goddess of her own. Her daring alone was motivation to grant her every condition that she had requested.

"Settling her hands to her side, Flamina conceded, "Yes, Hermione, I will grant you all which you request, but remember, if you fail to my terms, then all will be taken away…agreed?"

"Agreed…oh great Flamina" and Hermione gave her a crafty little smile.

"What are you doing now, Flamina?" a voice boomed out shaking both Hermione and Flamina. "Must I follow you around every time you come to Earth?"

Standing next to Flamina, with his hands around her waist was a very handsome man, all dressed in white .His head adorned with white curly hair and the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever looked at.

"What kind of trouble are you stirring up with this girl?" He looked angrily at the Goddess who stood there looking quite frustrated.

"Oh, Astralus, you know everything that has taken place here today, "Flamina shrugged his hand off her body and took several paces away from him.

"If that is the case, then I must introduce myself," Astralus glided over to Hermione, lifting her hand to place a warm soft kiss there, "I am Astralus, God over the sky and the clouds; I rule over all things light."

Hermione felt a strong attraction to this God as she had been using light magic for so long.

"I am here to give you an offer," he said giving Hermione an intense smile," to counteract the one my dear Flamina has offered you."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at this statement, looking over to Flamina who was turning red in the face. Astralus next took Hermione's hand in his, "I can give you powerful magic, but of the light variety," he rubbed his finger over Hermione's hand sending chills through her. "You do not have to accept her offer that may not bring you happiness."

Astralus inched closer to Hermione where he was now leaning into her. Unbeknownst to Astralus, Flamina gave a wave toward Tom, awaking him. "Please listen to what I have to say," Astralus ran his hand through Hermione's hair, making her crave more of his touch, "You will not regret it…"

"But…you will if you keep touching my woman," Hermione heard Tom's deep voice waking her up from the trance Astralus has bound her in. "Hermione, come here…now!" Astralus rolled his eyes and Flamina gave a slight giggle at her little trick of waking up Tom.

Tom wrapped his arms around Hermione and pulled her closely to him, "It would be best if you don't listen to anything he has to say." He smoothly kissed her until she couldn't breathe.

"You see, my dear Astralus, "Flamina said walking up to him and grabbing onto his arm, "I always get my way…especially if you are up against me." She wrinkled her nose at him and gave a little growl. Astralus rigidly stood there watching the two young lovers devour each other.

"I am ready, Flamina, to seal our agreement," Hermione said, "What is the procedure to give me back my magic?"

Astralus huffed off to stand by the side, "I need you over here by the altar," Flamina motioned to Hermione. "Please lie down…but first take your blouse off." Hermione's eyes widened at this request and she started trembling thinking back to Halloween night.

"I am not going to hurt you, Hermione, "Flamina tried to soften her fears, "In fact, what will take place will erase forever the scars from that dreadful night."

Hermione slowly, with an encouraging nod from Tom, took off her blouse and lay down on the altar. The stone was cold on her skin making her shiver. Flamina shook her head, "All of it, my dear..." and Hermione took off her bra feeling very exposed with her breasts out on display.

Flamina walked to the altar and smiled down at Hermione, "I promise you that you will feel no pain, just lie back and close your eyes." Hermione followed her directions, after making eye contact with Tom one more time; knowing that he was right there by her side if needed.

Flamina raised her hands in the air over Hermione's chest and started verbalizing an incantation in a language Hermione was unfamiliar with. As her hands circled over Hermione, she opened up her eyes to see the scars, made from her attackers, glowing bright red and suddenly opening. Hermione, horrified, but intrigued, saw Flamina's wrist open up with purple liquid flowing out. Flamina had a gleeful look on her face as she ran her wrist over all of the scars disfiguring Hermione's skin. Her wrist followed the large "X" that had been drawn on Hermione's chest. The scars were disappearing in front of Hermione's eyes. Then Flamina placed her wrist, once again on Hermione, right between her breasts. As Flamina removed her hand, Hermione looked down on her chest to view a new tattoo that had been placed on her body. Where the old scars had been removed, Flamina had placed a tattoo, a rose half black and half white; with a serpent wrapped around the rose with blood droplets dripping off of it.

Hermione gasped when she recognized the rose; similar to the one Tom had given to her after their first night together.

"This is to remind you of the agreement we have made between ourselves. " Flamina smiled, "Unwittingly, you designed your own tattoo from what was in your own heart and mind."

Tom and Hermione looked at one another, each interpreting the meaning of the tattoo. Hermione knew she was the rose and Tom was the serpent. He knew that he was in control of Hermione and she was in conflict between her light and dark side.

Hermione sat up and reached out to Tom and he quickly helped Hermione put her bra and blouse back on. First he ran his hand over her new tattoo and tried hard not to smile at what he saw.

Giving a nod of thanks to Flamina, Tom led Hermione out of the chamber.

"So, do you think they will ever figure out your devious actions, my sweet Flamina?" Astralus inquired of his lady.

Laughing loudly, with her head thrown back, Flamina shook her head no, "They will never know…unless you tell them." She smiled wickedly back at him.

"What do you think they would say," Astralus pulled Flamina to him, "if I told them it was you that influenced those young men to attack and kidnap Hermione?"

"Oh Astralus, don't threaten me, "Flamina screamed back at him, "How was I to know they would rape Hermione and kill the Dark Lord's heir?"

"Do you think Lord Voldemort would be as understanding as I am to your mischievous ways?" Astralus asked.

Flamina glared back at her lover, "I was only trying to move Voldemort's plan for world domination, forward. He needed some motivation." She marched away in righteous anger.

"Just remember that you have been warned," Astralus said with annoyance, "You shared with her your powers...she may come back some day to best you." Flamina glared once again at Astralus. "I will be waiting here in the wings to see your meddling come full circle."

Flamina stormed away in a cloud of smoke, while Astralus gave a laugh, feeling like he had finally beaten Flamina, ever so tiny, in an argument.

Chapter End Notes:

I know many of you really hate Flamina...but I guess that means I have created a great character! Hey, I didn't even like her in this chapter!

If anyone can come up with a sketch or something, of Hermione's tattoo...I would love to see it! I am not an artist...but I am sure someone out there is, that could do this for me! Thanks!


	19. Chapter 19: Questions

Chapter 19: Questions

Author's Chapter Notes:

It's time to see the how Hermione is doing after her encounter with Flamina. 

Thanks as always to sweet Nicole! 

Chapter 19: Questions

The walk back to the Slytherin Common Room felt like a ten mile hike. Neither Tom nor Hermione said a word, both contemplating what had just taken place in the Chamber of Secrets. They held each other's hand tightly, occasionally glancing over at each other.

"I know that you want to ask me something…so what is it?" Tom questioned Hermione, recognizing the inquisitive look on her face and the biting of her lip.

Stopping in the middle of the hallway Hermione turned to face Tom, "Have you ever had …sex with Flamina?"

Tom tried not to let his lip curl into a smile; she was jealous. Thank the Gods that he was able to answer truthfully. "No, Hermione," Tom said putting his arms around her waist, "I have never had nor wanted to partake in any sexual relationship with the Goddess Flamina."

Instantly a smile spread across her face. Hermione jumped up high in his arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around Tom's neck and he twirled her around and around. The look of pure happiness and relief on Hermione's face made him almost giddy.

As he set her back down, he leaned in to kiss her inviting lips. They both felt like their relationship had moved to a new level, after what had happened to her on Halloween night. Tom felt more protective of her, of course, but even more, he had felt what it would be like without her. Not being able to hear her laugh, see her smile or make love to her; this had made him realize how much he wanted her…no, needed her in his life.

For Hermione, she had been through so much suffering, yet amidst that pain, Tom still had been there for her; helping her, pushing her, and loving her. She was a different witch from the one that had arrived here after traveling through time. Hermione's priorities changed and she knew that she would do anything for Tom. She still hated the Voldemort from her time, but she knew that she had already changed the time line. The Voldemort that would emerge would be different in a sense, because now he had experienced love. He would never be a sentimental fool, after all he was the Dark Lord; but to her, he would be her world.

Grabbing hands again, they continued walking down the hallway, looking over to beam at one another.

* * *

The scratching could be heard on the papers, from the many busily writing quills. The whole Charms class sat quietly, writing an in-class essay: The Application of Charms Work in the Real Wizarding World.

Hermione leaned over to Tom and wrote down on a small piece of paper, "_I want to know who the two surviving Gryffindors are who attacked me?" _Hermione watched as Tom read the note. His eyebrows shot up and then his face wore a grimace.

He wrote back to her, "_No!"_ was all it said. Hermione sat with her legs crossed and glared back at Tom.

Leaning over she wrote next, "_Yes!! I __deserve __to know who they are!!"_ Tom gave an inward groan. He had wondered when this conversation would take place. He was just happy it wasn't taking place verbally by how many exclamation marks she had just used at the end of her sentence.

Tom looked over at Hermione, noticing her pinched lips, flared nostrils and her hair starting to rise. There was that feeling again…her magic was back! An exciting thrill ran through his system as his magic was responding to hers. Tom knew he needed to squelch Hermione's show of force, so he wrote back to her,_ "Fine, I will tell you after class…please remain __calm__."_

The soft doe eyes returned and the storm was calmed, "Thank you," mouthed Hermione. Tom glanced around the room spotting the two Gryffindors in question. Knowing the determination and fire that defined Hermione, he wouldn't want to be in their shoes when she found out their identity. Have mercy on their souls if she got her hands on them…and he would in no way prevent her from acquiring the justice that she so well deserved; despite the outcome.

"What? No it can't be?" Hermione screamed loudly at hearing the names of the two Gryffindors still alive.

"Quiet down now, "Tom was trying hard to silence her during lunch in the Great Hall, "Everyone is looking over at our table."

"It's a load of tosh!" Hermione tried to reason with him, "I know one of them and he would never hurt me." Tom shoved his cottage pie into his mouth and chewed like he was eating something nasty tasting.

"I know for an absolute certainty", he said as quietly as possible, "The two surviving Gryffindors, that were involved with your kidnapping were indeed Justin Widden and Charlus Potter." Oh, her heart ached, when the truth was spoken by Tom, that Charlus was involved. In some sense she felt betrayed by the Potter line. The conflicting emotions were running rampant in her heart and her mind.

Stoically looking up from her custard, she softly asked, "I need one more question answered, I need to know if Charlus was involved in my rape. "She looked at Tom pleadingly hoping that his answer would be "No".

Tom took a sip of his pumpkin juice, then cleared his throat before answering, "I can with great assurance, answer that Charlus Potter was not involved with the rape." Thank the Gods! Hermione was so relieved that Charlus hasn't been one of the men who had so terribly abused her body.

As Tom ate another bite of his pie he almost choked because he remembered something else he needed to tell her, "In fact, love, he was outside guarding the entrance to the cave." Tom started laughing "We knocked him out with a "Stupefy" before he even had a chance to react. "

Turning serious, she continued with her questioning, "What can you tell me about Justin?"

Tom looked over for a moment at Abraxas, who had been silently listening to their conversation. Turning back to her he spoke, "I know he did not rape you…but he was involved in other forms of abusing your body." Tom searched her face to see what this news would do to her.

With a solemn look in her eyes and much sadness on her face she asked, "How did you find out about this?"

"Hermione, "Tom stated with a tinge of annoyance in his voice, "Think about who you are speaking to."

Nodding her head, and sporting a smirk she exclaimed, "Legilimency."

Wrapping his arm around her shoulder he leaned in closer to whisper in her ear, "You are always my brilliant Hermione," and she jabbed him in the ribs, "Ouch, that hurt!" he said. "Give over, Hermione…it was just a joke."

"I know, Tom", she leaned in to kiss him savoring the feel of his lips in hers, "Thank you for being honest with me." Putting his hand over hers, he simply replied, "You're welcome, love."

* * *

"Why are we following them, Hermione?" asked Lucretia with interest.

"Shhh, Lucretia, "Hermione cautioned her, "I need to know what their schedules are and where they will be at certain times. " They tried to stay in the shadows so the young men would not spot them trailing behind.

Hermione reached behind her and drew out her wand. Tapping Lucretia on her head she disillusioned her and then she did the same to herself. Lucretia hated the cool, icy feeling that came over her at being disillusioned.

"This will be better in order to stick by them," Hermione said quietly, "I must have this information today."

Lucretia was puzzled by Hermione's pursuit of the two Gryffindors. They had been trailing them for the last 15 minutes. She was sure that Tom would not be happy, when he was informed that Hermione had been chasing around after some Gryffindors.

All of a sudden, understanding of why they were trailing the Gryffindors, hit Lucretia. These were the two surviving men who were part of the attack on Hermione.

"Just answer this question for me." Lucretia said quietly, "What are we going to do when we catch them?" She turned to Hermione and could feel the heat radiating from her being, despite the fact she could not even see her. Ever since Hermione had recovered her lost magic, she frightened Lucretia a bit. Hermione seemed more unstable and more ready to jump into doing illogical things; such as following two Gryffindors around the castle and grounds.

"I am not going to do anything to them…yet." Hermione said wryly, "I need permission from Tom before I make my decision of how to punish them. "

"What do you mean, punish them?" Lucretia was curious what she had in mind for punishment.

Hermione answered quickly, "I will punish them according to the severity of their sins against me."

Lucretia almost felt sorry for the two young men, but only for a second; she would not want to be on the receiving end of any kind of punishment that Hermione would dole out.

"Charlus Potter was just standing guard duty during my abuse," Hermione explained to Lucretia, "But Tom informed me that Justin Widden, though not involved with my rape, did other things to me…I just don't remember what."

The two girls came to a stop, as the Gryffindors entered their common room and the door closed.

Ending the disillusionment spell, Hermione turned to Lucretia, "I have found the person I will sacrifice in order to fulfill my initiation commitment."

With wide eyes Lucretia faced Hermione, "I will accomplish this, once Tom gives me his permission."

Hermione turned and headed back down the hallway. Lucretia, still standing in shock by Hermione's declaration, shook her head, and ran off trying to catch up with Hermione.

* * *

Enjoying the Saturday afternoon, Tom, Radbourne, Abraxas and Alphard, sat in the Slytherin Common Room playing a form of Wizard's Poker.

"Quit cheating, Alphard," commanded Tom, "or I will have to hex you." Alphard gave a roll of the eyes, but placed his extra card down on the table. "Much better, you fool; you can't cheat when playing cards with me." Tom acted nonchalant with his statement to Alphard, but all of them knew he was deadly serious with his answer.

Abraxas tried to hide his amusement at Alphard being caught being devious. You would think Alphard would know by now not to press the Dark Lord in any way, but he wasn't a fast learner.

The game was interrupted as Hermione and Lucretia came running into the room.

"Oh look," Abraxas muttered quietly to Tom, "A storm just blew in." Tom tried hard not to laugh at Abraxas's statement, but they all knew it was true. Hermione's volatile temper had been making everyone jumpy, especially first and second years that happened to get in her way.

Hermione marched up to Tom and blurted out in excitement, "I am seeking permission…from the Dark Lord," she mouthed quietly, "For something official to happen which will fulfill my initiation agreement for the third task." All four men sat there staring at Hermione's announcement.

Hushing her quickly, Tom pulled her down to sit her on his lap.

Whispering in her ear he cautioned her, "This is something that should not be discussed, even here in the Slytherin Common Room." Hermione tried to wriggle out of his grasp and off of his lap. "That is definitely not helping matters unless you want me to take you right here in front of all of our friends." Her eyes became huge, knowing that Tom rarely made a pronouncement such as that and didn't follow through.

She quit squirming and listened as Tom spoke quietly to the rest of them, "We will meet immediately to discuss this in a more private location," Tom then stood up.

Motioning towards the mark on Abraxas's arm, he commanded, "I need to summon the rest of my followers to be there promptly in 20 minutes." Using his own robe as a shield, he grabbed Abraxas's arm, and placed his wand on the Dark Mark in the center of the skull tattoo. All those present bearing the Dark Mark, winced in pain as Lord Voldemort's servants were summoned. Hermione's stomach flinched when she caught sight of the Dark Mark; the Death Eaters had truly been born.

Tom turned towards his room, clutching Hermione's hand in his. They needed to converse about her plans before she brought it up in front of the rest of the Death Eaters.

* * *

"I thought that you would want to know," Tom held Hermione in his arms, "there was one other change that occurred while you were in your coma."

Hermione mockingly said, "You mean like your little name change…Lord Voldemort." Tom wasn't sure what to think of this "new" Hermione and how she was now constantly confronting him about everything. She seemed to delight in raising his ire.

Not giving in to her taunts he ignored her statement, "The Knights have been given a new name." Tom searched Hermione's face to gauge her reaction. She stood there, not showing her true feelings and emotions, though inside she was steaming at the fact there were now "Death Eaters" at Hogwarts.

"They will now be called, my… Death Eaters." Tom still gave her a look that bore deep into her soul. "I will have to tell you later why I chose that name." Hermione trying not to be so derisive nodded silently.

"Now, before we meet with my Death Eaters, I want to know why I am calling this meeting. " Tom never liked surprises of any kind…unless it was his own idea.

"I wish to complete my third task of my initiation" Hermione explained calmly, "But I want to change the requirements…a tad."

Tom taken aback by her declaration motioned, "Go ahead and explain yourself."

"I want to fulfill my obligation by torturing and taking the life of Justin Widden." The look that came over Hermione's face even stunned Tom for a moment. The look of vengeance and pure hatred was painted across her features. He knew that she would attempt some form of revenge, once she found out who the two surviving Gryffindors were; but he was actually delighted at the length she would go to in order to obtain her revenge.

"What do you want to do with Potter?" Tom knew his actions were less involved than the others, but Potter still knew about the planned attack and had done nothing to warn Hermione.

Hermione just smiled, "I want to scare him a little, but that is all." Tom wasn't happy with her answer. If it had been his decision, he would have killed all of the Gryffindors. Anyone that had been involved with Hermione's attack or abuse didn't deserve to live. Tom vowed that day, to himself, that from this day forward, any man with the last name "Potter" would be his enemy…pureblood or not.

"I agree to your plan," Tom marveled at the determination in this beautiful woman, "but the Death Eaters will need to be of the same opinion in order to carry this out."

"Fair enough," she said heading for the door, "as long as we see eye to eye." Hermione gleefully waltzed out of the door as if she were headed to a party.

* * *

As Tom and Hermione entered the Room of Requirement, all of the Death Eaters bowed in submission, "Lord Voldemort, heir to Slytherin, keeper of the darkness, we are at your service." Every time Hermione heard the chorus of voices, as they chimed in submission to Tom, she felt queasy remembering one more time who she was with.

Tom motioned for his followers to rise, "We gather tonight, my loyal Death Eaters, at the request of one of our own." Tom pulled her towards him, "Hermione MacMillan has requested a change in the requirements of her initiation." She stood there nervously, looking around at all of the faces staring straight at her. She had never felt comfortable being the center of attention.

"Hermione will now present her revised plan," Lord Voldemort stepped aside leaving Hermione standing at the front of the room by herself.

Apprehensively, Hermione looked around the room full of Death Eaters. She needed to be strong, firm and convincing.

"You all know what happened to me on Halloween night," she bravely started her proclamation, "It is on one of my attackers that I wish to carry out the third initiation task." Tom stood there proudly listening to Hermione present her plan. He knew that this was not an easy task, to talk so openly to others, about the things that had happened to her.

"Justin Widden, a Gryffindor, took part in the abuse that occurred in the cave." She noticed that several of the men looked at her with great understanding in their eyes and sympathy on their faces. She realized these men had been with Tom, in the cave and witnessed the atrocities that had taken place. She could feel her face heat up, realizing they had seen her naked.

Keeping up her brave demeanour, she continued, "It is my wish to torture him and them eliminate him. " You could hear the intake of breath from people in the room. Tom silently stood at the front gauging the reaction of his Death Eaters.

"Where will this take place?" questioned one Death Eater.

"How are you going to do this undetected? You must do this with as much anonymity as possible," warned another.

"What method of torture and elimination will you be using?" still one more Death Eater inquired.

Hermione tried not to act so surprised at the questions that were being asked of her. She knew that there would be a few questions, she just wasn't expecting to this degree. Tom started to move forward, to intercept the barrage of questions being hurled at Hermione. Turning to look him square in the face, Hermione nodded her head no, and he stepped back to let her handle the situation on her own.

"The exact information of time, place and methods that will be used, "she answered glaring at her interrogators, "will only be given to Lord Voldemort and his inner circle," Hermione ended forcefully.

"You should all be reassured that this will take place quietly and efficiently "Tom hid his reaction to Hermione's superb answer.

"I am calling for a unanimous vote," she looked pleadingly out at her audience, "I would like to have these actions take place as soon as possible."

Lord Voldemort stepped up then, "Hermione has asked for a vote from this assemblage, what say you?"

Hermione held her breath while she heard the chorus of, "Yea's".

"Are there any opposing votes?" The Dark Lord stared at each face in the room, which luckily, was remaining silent. He hadn't looked forward, to dealing with anyone who would have been foolish enough to deny Hermione's request.

"Hermione, it appears that you have the vote to go ahead with your appeal." She stood there letting out her breath. Now the hard part would begin, she really had not thought farther than asking for permission. How was she going to carry out her plan? Was she really ready to torture and kill this young Gryffindor? The die had been cast, she had no choice now, and she would have to follow through with the set agenda.

As the many Death Eaters filed out of the secret, dungeon room, Tom leaned down to Hermione, "Very impressive argument, milady," and he winked at her. Taking his hand in hers she curtsied to him, "Thank you, milord." Yes, the easy part had just taken place. The difficulties of carrying out her plan were still there staring her straight in the face.

Chapter End Notes:

Coming in Chapter 20: Christmas time at Hogwarts


	20. Chapter 20: Vengeance

Chapter 20: Vengeance is mine:

_Warning...Dark Hermione ahead! _

_Thanks Nicole and all of you following this story._

Chapter 20: Vengeance is mine:

Hermione paced from one end of the room to the other. To the casual observer, she looked like a caged animal. She had spent the whole morning trying to come up with her plan to eliminate Justin Widden. Hermione had a captive audience in the Slytherin common room consisting of: Tom, Abraxas, Lucretia, Alphard, Radbourne, Casper and Clarice. They had been sitting around enjoying their afternoon, visiting, and relaxing. Hermione could not say the same about her day; her brain was working constantly to figure out what she really wanted to do with her task.

Tom had been sitting there quietly listening to the casual conversation. His eyes, though, had never left the woman he loved. Tom knew she was agonizing over how to complete this task.

"So when are we going to get together over holiday break?" Lucretia asked the group. Christmas was only a week away and not many plans had been made for the holidays.

"I think we all need to come to the manor on Christmas Eve." Abraxas announced. The invitation was met with great excitement from all; except for Hermione, who hadn't heard a word anyone had said.

"What do you think about Abraxas' plan for Christmas Eve?" Clarice asked her. Hermione suddenly stopped and swung her head towards Clarice, "Christmas? When is Christmas?"

Tom could see the tears in her eyes as she dropped onto the sofa next to him.

"It can't be Christmas yet." She sat silently, and sadly shook her head. "My whole sense of time has been shaken up."

Tom put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. He softly rubbed her arm and whispered in her ear, "it's fine, and at least you didn't sleep all through the holidays." Hermione laughed through her tears as Tom gave her a huge hug that engulfed her safely in his arms.

"You are coming to manor for the holidays right, Tom?" Abraxas looked at Tom who immediately glanced down at Hermione. "I'm not sure yet," he answered doubtfully, "I don't want to leave Hermione here by herself"

She smiled up at Tom. Then she sat up swiftly, "That's it…the answer to my problem!" Several confused people stared at Hermione thinking the stress had really gotten to her. "Don't you see? Holiday break is the solution I have been looking for." Hermione was bouncing around with excitement.

Alphard, looked at Hermione, "Well, isn't she a cheery little elf," he said with a snicker, "It's so much fun to torture someone at Christmas."

Tom did not laugh, but he showed no signs of anger either, "No, it's actually a brilliant idea!" he looked from one face to the other, "Just think, no one will be expecting any type of retribution taking place; especially during the holidays." Tom continued, "No one will be on their guard, which will give us the perfect opportunity to strike."

"Us, Tom?" Hermione asked, "I don't expect you or anyone else to help me with this."

Tom's hand gripped her arms firmly and turned her towards him, "Bollocks, Hermione, there is no way that I will allow you to do this on your own!"

Hermione could tell from the tone of his voice, that Tom was serious. "It's fine, Tom," Hermione said tenderly taking his hands off of her arms, "there is no one else that I would rather have with me," her voice cracked, "when I have to complete this task."

Tom, feeling her love and trust, pulled her into his chest and tilted her head up towards his. Caressing Hermione's cheek, he looked into the eyes of the woman that he knew would follow him anywhere, support him through anything and love him for always. As he kissed her gently, he could care less about the rest of the inhabitants in the room. As the kiss deepened, they leaned back into the sofa and Hermione crawled into his lap.

They were startled out of their snog when they heard Radbourne, "This isn't the best place for a romp, you two."

Laughing the two lovers broke apart. Tom stood up and pulled Hermione with him, "You lot stay her and talk about cheer, "he grinned down at Hermione, "we are going back to my room to create our own cheer."

As they watched the two wander off, Alphard questioned, "How often do you think they do their romping? Maybe we should go watch them for extra training."

"Oh," groaned Lucretia, "piss off, Alphard, and leave them alone! You are truly a git!"

Abraxas sat shaking his head at Alphard's show of continual stupidity.

* * *

Breakfast was a quiet affair at the Slytherin table, while the other Houses were excited about catching the Hogwarts Express for the holidays.

Hermione kept pushing her eggs around in circles on her plate. She had eaten one bite of toast and a bite of egg and now felt sick to her stomach.

As Hermione looked up she met the eyes of those in the know; Abraxas, Clarice, Alphard, Radbourne, Casper, Lucretia and of course, Tom. He was sitting next to her with his arm protectively wrapped around her shoulders. He knew how hard this was going to be for her. The struggle, between light and dark magic, was constantly pulling at her. What she chose to do today was her idea; in fact, it was her right to carry out her revenge.

Peering over her shoulder, Hermione glanced over at the Gryffindor table. Spotting the two young men, happily eating their breakfast with gusto, the guilt washed over her in waves. She turned around, collapsing into Tom's arms. He looked over his shoulder at where her eyes had been fixated.

Abraxas gazed at Hermione feeling her trepidation and he looked at Tom. With his eyes, he questioned Tom; wanting to know if she would be able to finish and carry out her plans for today.

Hermione and Tom had been arguing the past week about who would and who wouldn't be helping Hermione with her task. With much consternation, Hermione gave in to allow the Inner Circle of Death Eaters, along with Lucretia and Clarice, to help her. It would all start within the hour before the Hogwarts express left Hogsmeade.

Tom stood, "It's time we readied ourselves to go to Hogsmeade." He nodded to all at the table, and turned and walked out of the Great Hall.

"I guess that is my cue," Hermione said jumping up, "It's my time to prove myself." She sniffed back the tears, stood erect and slowly headed to her room.

Abraxas let out a huge breath of air, "Do you really think she will be able to follow through with this today?"

"Yes, I do, Abraxas, "Lucretia defended her friend. "Think back to how she was during the duels." Lucretia folded her arms across her chest and glared at Abraxas.

"A duel is very different from what she has planned, "Casper voiced his opinion.

"I'm personally worried about her, "Clarice squeaked out quietly, "Did you see that look on her face when she left?"

Radbourne stood up, "That is why she has all of us to help her," he grabbed Clarice's hand to help her up, "we are all friends, of course." He put his hand on Clarice's waist and guided her out of the Great Hall.

Abraxas stood next and extended his hand out to Lucretia, "Well, love, shall we?" he pulled his lady love up and kissed her hand. Lucretia beamed at the handsome Malfoy heir, "Let's…we have a long day ahead of us." The two kissed as they started walking away.

Alphard stood and extended his hand to Casper, "Shall we, love?" he said in a high, girlish voice. "Bugger off you eegit !" Casper said knocking his hand away. Alphard laughed and followed him towards the dungeons.

* * *

The water pelted down onto her head, hot and prickly. She grabbed the soap and lathered it up and spread it over her arms and across her breasts. Hermione then let her hand trail down to her stomach and swished suds across her tight muscles.

Unbeknownst to her, a visitor had entered her room. Quietly shutting the door, the visitor kicked off his shoes and threw off his robes.

While Hermione applied the shampoo to her long locks, the intruder slipped off his clothes. Silently entering the shower, two large hands brushed through Hermione's hair and twirled her around. Slamming hard into his chest, Hermione gasped, and then slumped against Tom in great relief.

"Why do you always run off and hide in the water?" he asked her as he tilted her head back into the stream of water, washing the suds out of her hair.

"You scared the bloody hell out of me," and she slammed her fists into Tom's chest, "You have got to stop sneaking up on me!" She looked up at him, wild-eyed, "You know how I am; especially after what happened to me."

Tom ran his hands down her back to cup her arse and he pulled her closely to him. "I'm sorry, love." He bent down to trail kisses along her neck and across her collarbone. Hermione shivered even though the water remained hot.

"Were you done showering?" Tom asked as he took the soap from her, "Not quite yet," she grinned up at him. "I was southbound," and she pointed down to her center, "When you rudely interrupted me."

Tom lathered the soap with a feral smirk on his face; accompanied by a low growl. Starting with her feet, he lifted up one foot and washed between each toe. "That tickles, Tom," Hermione laughed. Tom just smiled up at her. Next, he spread the soap on her calves moving over her knees and heading up to her thighs. His hands lathered the soap again, then he soaped up her womanly mound; running his fingers lightly through the course curls. Standing, he held her with one hand on her back and the other running through her folds. Tom unbelievably had not come for sex, but to help her relax and calm down. He wanted her to be ready for what lay ahead.

Hermione closed her eyes and leaned back into Tom's arm, letting him take control of her. A wave of relief washed over Tom, when he realized she was trustfully putting this moment into his hands; she was his to take care of.

As his lips came down on hers, his hand continued to run over and around her sensitive nub. Tom loved making this woman come. Never before, would he have thought to receive so much enjoyment from giving someone else pleasure. This had all changed ever since Hermione had entered his life.

He could hear her breathing becoming shallower, as she pressed hard into his moving hand. He stopped for a moment to shift positions and she shouted out, "Don't you dare stop now!", and she grabbed his hand to keep shifting it back and forth over her clit.

Tom just grinned, "Anything to please you. " His teeth nibbled at her mouth then he sucked on her lips, savoring them. Rhythmically he stroked her as he brushed back and forth turning the small fire into an inferno. As his thumb rotated over her sensitive spot, she moaned and whimpered into his arms. He watched her face as she climaxed; the intensity he felt from her spiraling out of control made him groan. Why was he so lucky for the Gods to give him this woman?

Hermione's eyes slowly opened her mouth slightly open, "Thank you, Tom." She knew that she could do anything with this man by her side.

Reaching out to him, she grasped his cock and slid her hands up and down his length. He closed his eyes to feel each sensation as she made her way from the tip and back up again. Moving faster and faster, her hands were firm, but not forceful. He thrust into her hand and she kissed and sucked on his tender nipples and she licked her way up to his collar bone. Pushing Tom back against the wall, Hermione jumped into his arms, almost making them both fall. Wrapping her legs, firmly around him, he positioned himself at her entrance. With one wet and firm thrust, he encased himself fully into her warmth. Christmas had come early for him as he pumped steadily into Hermione, feeling his climax heading quickly to fruition. She clenched her walls around his length, hearing him groan, as she clamped down on him. Gods, she was trying to kill him, he just knew it! Soon, he couldn't hold back any longer, and felt as his body convulsed, releasing his seed deep within her womb. She came again as Tom's climax rocked him.

They clung tightly together feeling added waves of pleasure still shooting between their bodies. Neither, Tom nor Hermione wanted to let go and held each other close savoring each sensation. Finally opening their eyes Tom leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the nose.

"I love you, Hermione," he declared, "You know that you are the most important thing, person, in my world…right?"

Hermione smiled, through happy tears, "I know, Tom, "she said softly, "I love you as well. My life would be meaningless without you." They kissed again as Tom slid her down his body savoring the feel of her body pressed so closely against his.

"We need to get ready to go." Tom rubbed her back and brushed her wet hair out of her face.

"I know, Tom, I think I am finally ready to take care of this problem." She looked up to him with determined fire in her eyes. She was now truly geared up and resolved in carrying out her plan.

With one last, luxurious kiss, they toweled each other off and dressed.

Before leaving the room, Tom pressed Hermione back into the door. With his arms on either side of her head, he looked down at her, "You are the bravest woman I have ever met in my life," he said with great admiration, "I will be here when you need me."

She leaned up to kiss her man; her strength. Hermione gently placed her hand on his cheek, staring into her lover's eyes. "Let's go and test out my restored powers." Tom wagged his eyebrows at her, wondering exactly what Flamina had gifted Hermione with; leaving her room with great anticipation.

* * *

Snow was falling as Hogwarts students made their way to Hogsmeade. Some stopped to laugh and play in the snow. Others hurriedly walked to get out of the cold. A group of Gryffindors talked excitedly about their plans for the holiday break. They were all meeting up for a New Year's Eve party at the Potter Estate.

A quiet group of Slytherins followed behind, in black cloaks, with hoods enclosed around their heads. No one really took notice of the cloaks, as the snow was falling steadily. The Slytherins quietly listened to the chatter coming from the Gryffindor group ahead. They needed to do something to separate the two Gryffindors that had been targeted.

The group of Slytherin students, split up, some skirting around the walking path into the forest and the others falling behind, still trailing their targets.

As the group of Gryffindors continued on to Hogsmeade, Charlus and Justin lagged behind a bit. Turning his head around to peer over his shoulder, Justin leaned over to Charlus, "Who is that behind us?" he asked in a somewhat worried tone.

Charlus just shrugged it all off, "Who cares," he said not worried, "Just fellow students heading to catch the train."

Justin just shook his head at Charlus' statement, "No…something feels off about it, I can tell."

"I think you are being too jumpy, mate," Charlus said to his friend, "besides, there are too many people around us for something to happen." Justin, none the less, pulled out his wand and gripped it tightly in his hand. Looking ahead they saw the rest of their group had hurried ahead and were almost out of sight. Glancing behind, he saw the four hooded people still following behind them, with no one else in sight. Charlus and Justin looked at each other and started walking faster, but those behind them quickened their pace also.

Justin's heart started beating, fast in his chest, as he looked around erratically in all directions. Now he was making Charlus nervous at his odd behavior. Both Gryffindors looked behind them one more time and as they turned around they were stopped in their tracks. There standing in front of them, were four more hooded people that they almost ran into face first. They heard a feminine voice say, "Now, grab them!" and hands reached out to grab their arms and they apparated away, leaving Justin's wand as the only evidence that he had been there.

They arrived at the top of a mountain near an entrance to a cave. Shoving them hard, they were pushed into the cave entrance. Instantly they were magically bound to the cave wall, so they couldn't move or struggle. The eight hooded individuals pulled the hoods back and Justin gasped. He recognized the group of Slytherins, especially Tom Riddle.

Hermione stepped in front of the two young men, "You need to know why you are here and why you will be punished." Justin and Charlus looked at each other wondering what Tom Riddle's girlfriend was talking about. With her new powers, Hermione was able to touch their minds. She showed them exactly what happened to her on Halloween night. When she couldn't remember any more, Tom took over, showing them what he had seen on his arrival at the cave. Both Gryffindors felt sick as they saw what their fellow classmates had done to Hermione. Neither one of them could remember being there that night, but both knew they had, and they both realized they were in grave danger. They had heard the stories, about the supposed atrocities that Tom and his Slytherin mates had committed against Gryffindors. Charlus, in particular, couldn't believe that he had let this happen to Hermione, someone he had considered to be his friend. Looking at her now, he knew his friend was not in a "friendly" mood.

"Is there anything either one of you would like to say before we get started?" asked Hermione.

Justin cleared his throat, "I don't suppose asking for your forgiveness would be of any help…would it?"

In response to his question, Hermione gave a high pitched laugh, "No, it wouldn't." she answered quickly and definitively "I don't recall anyone asking me what I thought before they attacked me and raped me."

The sweat was dripping off of Justin's face, as he could see the odds were against him making it out of here alive. Even if he did have his wand on him, these were powerful wizards and witches holding him and Charlus here and they were outnumbered.

Hermione stepped close to Justin, "Yes, the odds are against you, "she shocked him knowing what he had been thinking, "Now you know how I felt being outnumbered; one woman to twenty men."

She walked away from them and turned back sharply, "To make matters worse, I was stripped naked in front of all of you." The anger and humiliation radiated off of her as she remembered what had happened to her. "Don't you think it is only fair to let you see how I felt that night?" Charlus licked his dry lips and tried to swallow, which was hard with no spit.

Hermione, wandless, raised her arms and screamed out, "_Divesto_" and the clothing was ripped away from the bodies of Charlus and Justin. Both young men wore shocked looks on their faces as their clothes were quickly taken away and also with how cold it was in the cave.

Wearing a wild look on her face, Hermione stalked back to the now naked men. "So, how does it feel?" she asked through clenched teeth, "Do you feel powerless or maybe helpless?" Tom was leaning against the cave wall enjoying the show playing out in front of them. So far, Hermione was running things the way she needed it to happen. He had ordered the others, not to intervene, unless asked by Hermione.

Lucretia and Clarice were trying not to look below the Gryffindor's waists. Hermione though, was making it her mission to make them as nervous and as uncomfortable as possible. Walking up to Justin, she placed her hand on his chest; running her fingers lightly across his pectorals and down to his navel. Tom, trying to act not surprised, just gritted his teeth watching Hermione's every move.

"Do you like me touching you?" Hermione questioned him in a sweet voice. "I didn't like it when all of you were touching me." As she continued to brush her hands over his body, she kept drawing nearer and nearer to his cock. Justin could feel his body responding to Hermione's stroking movements. His mind was telling him to not re-act to her fondling, but his body was enjoying every touch.

"I am not here to sexually assault you, "Hermione explained to them, "but there are other things I have planned for you…that are worse!" Hermione's anger was directed more at Justin, even though she knew Tom would not be satisfied until she punished Charlus, a little.

Hermione wanted to do the punishment, on her own, and cast an invisible barrier between her and her fellow Slytherins. Tom, realizing too late what Hermione had planned, fumed on the other side of the barrier. Hermione only looked back at him and winked. There was nothing any of them would be able to do until Hermione let the barrier down.

"You first," she pointed at Charlus, "Why did you not try to stop the assault? I thought that you were my friend?" Charlus tried to answer, but did not have a good answer.

"Hermione, please, don't do this," Charlus started to beg the enraged woman in front of him. "If I could have stopped them, I'm sure I would have."

On the other side of the barrier, Tom was heard saying, "It's a lost cause to beg, mate, when she is in a mood like this; believe me, I know." There were snickers heard in the cave and Hermione turned around to glare at Tom.

Turning back to her captives, Hermione closed her eyes to silently think of the spell she would use. In her mind she thought, "_Crucio_" and directed it to Justin and Charlus. With Hermione's new powers, the boys felt like she was casting the actual unforgivable on them; in reality it was all being played out in their minds. The mind is a powerful thing, what it thinks it sees, the brain can convince you it is actually happening. To the observers, they saw the Gryffindors bodies shaking and trembling, their bodies pulling forcefully on the chains.

Hermione opened her eyes to glance at the young men, they both were hanging limply and their breathing was harsh and shallow. Once again, she closed her eyes, to cast the same curse, mentally, to weaken her victims. Tom and the others knew what curse she had used, but they weren't sure how she had done it. Tom was just as intrigued as the others. Had she been gifted with powers to do wandless and wordless magic? But, he could tell there was more to her powers than this. Being a skilled Legilimens, he could sense there was mental torture going on here. How it was being accomplished was something he would have to find out from Hermione later.

Hermione closed her eyes to focus again, "_Dolorio Fierus_", she cast the spell in her mind planting the words in their minds. Justin and Charlus felt the sensation of burning all of over their skin, even though they were not on fire. Their screams echoed throughout the cave. "I'm on fire…stop…" and Charlus passed out from the pain. Hermione, released Charlus, and levitated his body through an opening in the barrier.

"Take care of him. I need to keep teaching Justin a lesson." Tom sucked in his breath as he could feel Hermione's dark magic rising up around her. Every incident that she used some dark magic, her magical signature produced a darker aura around her. This always seemed to be an aphrodisiac for him. He loved to see Hermione using her powers.

"Enough with the mind games," Hermione screamed angrily, "It's time for some fun." Tom was curious what would happen next. With the sadistic look he saw mirrored on Hermione's face, he knew that whatever was coming next would be fun to watch.

Picking up a rock she transfigured it into a knife with a 12- inch blade. Justin's eyes grew wide, with fear, as he saw what Hermione held in her hand.

"It doesn't feel good having one of these so close," bringing it within inches of his eyes, Hermione put the tip of the knife between Justin's eyes, "Shall we play?" Abraxas looked over at Tom, who was grinning wildly.

The knife flew from Hermione landing into Justin's hand. Tom jumped up when he saw the weapon now in the enemy's hand. The chains binding Justin disappeared, and a look of hope flashed in his eyes; maybe, he now had a chance to defend himself.

"Mutilo Corpus" Hermione screeched as she cast the spell, sending chills in the air. Tom had only seen this spell cast once, with grisly results. With the knife in Justin's hand and the repugnant spell cast on him, he started to slice along his chest. Whatever direction Hermione swung her hand, the knife also followed. The "_Mutilo Corpus_" was horrible, in that, the person under the curse mutilated their own body. With horror, Clarice and Lucretia watched as Justin now sliced his wrists and moved upwards towards his shoulders. The smell of fresh blood permeated the breathing space of the cave. Both girls turned their heads away as the mutilation continued.

The damage from the knife maimed Justin so much; he fell to the filthy ground in the cave. The dirt mixed with the blood and the open wounds and he looked worse for the wear. His hand next sliced a large "X" across his chest, similar to the one that had marred Hermione's skin. The tears were falling down the cheeks of the bleeding Gryffindor. Between the pain and shock, from blood loss, Justin was becoming weaker and frailer. As he continued to slash his own body, his eyes grew wide with anxiety as he saw his hand moving closer to his penis. Gods! Would she really mutilate him in the area most feared by all males?

"Please, stop, "Justin muttered as his trepidation grew, "Anywhere but there."

Hermione bent down to speak to him, "You have a choice," she said cruelly, "You choose what to slash next, either your cock or your neck." With that statement even Tom was a little shocked, but proud at her ruthlessness.

Before another word could be uttered, Justin reached up and slashed his own neck quickly, blood spurting onto Hermione's robes. His body slumped to the floor as life left him. The barrier came down and Hermione stood up. Turning to face the others, she said as if in a daze, "Don't you hate it when your robes get so dirtied?" Lucretia and Clarice looked at each other like Hermione had gone crazy.

Hermione's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she started swaying; but she did not hit the ground, as Tom's quick reflexes caught her. Lifting her up in his arms, Tom looked at Radbourne and Alphard, "Take Charlus and _Obliviate_ him again. He is to remember none of this."

Tom gave instructions to Abraxas and Casper, "I want no trace left of this mess…at all. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord Voldemort," and the two Death Eaters bowed to their leader. "Lucretia and Clarice, come with me. We must get to Hogsmeade to make our presence known." Lucretia, walking besides Tom, took out her wand, "_Scourgify_" and Hermione's robes were once again made new. Tom nodded his head, in thanks, to her and they descended the mountainside.

* * *

Solemnly sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, sat Hermione and her friends. No one said a word as the landscape hurried by outside. Tom put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, drawing her close and she laid her head against him.

Tom's voice broke the silence, "You were amazing back there," he complimented Hermione. "You have been avenged, my love; it is over and will be spoken of no more. "

His eyes roamed over all that were in the compartment. "Is that understood?" After receiving acknowledgement from all who had witnessed the retaliatory acts, that had taken place that day, Tom smiled and said, "We are ready now, for us all, to have a Happy Christmas," Hermione felt great warmth as she closed her eyes and fell asleep securely in Tom's arms.

_Coming up__: Christmas at Malfoy Manor_


	21. Chapter 21: Christmas at Malfoy Manor

Author's Chapter Notes:

This chapter is a break from the "heavy" things that have been happening in the story. I hope that you like it! Thanks always to a fantastic beta as Nicole and loyal readers!!

Time Changes All Things Chapter 21: Christmas at Malfoy Manor

Walking up to Malfoy Manor seemed more like a hike than a walk. From the country lane, the group of young people headed up a long driveway, which led to a very heavily warded wrought iron gate. Even with Abraxas present, they were unable to Apparate into the Manor; hence they were forced to walk to their destination.

Hermione didn't mind as it gave her time to clear her head from earlier events that had taken place that day. Once Tom had declared that the revenge had against Justin and Charlus was completed, it would not be spoken of again. Since that time, she had tried desperately not to think about her actions. Trying to justify murder is never an easy thing, even if all of them felt it had been substantiated. Her goal for the next two weeks of holiday break was to relax and enjoy this time with her friends. Hermione was here, with the other Slytherins, because Tom refused to come unless Hermione was included on the guest list. Of course, Abraxas agreed, and she was instantly invited to spend Christmas and New Year's at Malfoy Manor.

Abraxas touched the magical gate and the gate swung open, sensing the presence of Malfoy blood. As they continued walking, they were surrounded by the high, neatly trimmed yew hedge that encircled Malfoy property. Hermione admired the grounds where a large water fountain with a statue of a Malfoy ancestor stood proudly. Missing from the grounds at this time of the year, were the elegant albino peacocks that the Malfoy family had been breeding for hundreds of years. Usually they roamed the grounds in good weather; they were kept in a large conservatory during the harsh winter weather.

It would be Christmas Eve tomorrow, so they all had come to stay at the Manor. After Christmas, most of their friends would go to their own homes, until they would all meet up again at Radbourne's family estate to celebrate New Year's Eve.

As they came to the end of the driveway, they saw the entrance to the manor. There stood the double doors with huge oblong glass windows and a dragon shaped door knocker on one side of the door. Suddenly the front doors were flung open and out came a house elf wrapping his arms around Abraxas, "Oh Master Abraxas, " the excited elf yelled out, "I's have been missing you". Abraxas reached down to pat the shoulder of the family elf. "Yes, Dobby, I have missed you also."

Hermione was taken aback, as she realized she was looking at the Dobby she had grown to love many years ago. Tears came to her eyes as she thought back to how much she had missed him after he had been killed, once they had escaped Malfoy Manor. Harry had been devastated at the loss of his faithful little friend. What a pleasure it would be to be around Dobby during the Holidays.

"Please come in Master's friends," Dobby motioned for all of them to enter the manor. "The Lord of the Manor awaits you in the drawing room."

The group of teens entered a large and luxuriously decorated dimly lit hallway. The stone floor and walls were bedecked with costly carpets while family portraits lined the walls. They were led to the nearest door that flowed into the drawing room, which held plush furniture and a superb marble mantelpiece surrounded by a gilded mirror.

Standing regally by the fireplace, holding a wineglass in his hand stood Lord Malfoy. Hermione almost gasped when she realized how much Abraxas' father resembled his grandson Lucius. It was already surreal being here at the Manor as a guest; but to have someone standing there, greeting them, that reminded her so much of Lucius Malfoy, made her heart stop.

"Father," Abraxas rushed over the threshold to shake his father's hand. "It is so good to be home once again."

Lord Malfoy nodded his head to his son and his guests, "It is indeed a pleasure to have you all here to celebrate the holidays with us. "His voice even sounded like Lucius', but more deep and rich, "I hope that you will all feel welcome here at the manor."

He then greeted each young person by name, "Tom Riddle, it is indeed a great pleasure to have you back here for a visit." Lord Malfoy lit up as Tom shook his hand. "I understand that you are becoming even more powerful and great in your important work to better the wizarding world."

"Yes, sir," Tom said graciously, "Your brilliant son is my most important advisor. I trust him implicitly and recognize his noble upbringing and background." The charm oozing from Tom's mouth made Hermione shift nervously next to him.

"You honor me greatly with your words, Tom," Lord Malfoy gave a slight bow and lifted his drink towards Tom, "and who is this beautiful young witch next to you?"

Tom grinned and put his arm around Hermione's waist, drawing her towards Abraxas' father, "This, Lord Malfoy, "Tom said proudly, "Is my girlfriend, Hermione MacMillan, a very strong and intelligent woman that I am pleased to have by my side."

"She seems to be a very perfect match for you, Tom", Lord Malfoy observed, "Every man of importance should have a woman by his side to match his own strengths."

Tom smiled, "She does indeed play out as my equal, sir," and he put his arm around Hermione's shoulders and gave her a squeeze. The look of pure enchantment he directed towards her, took her breath away. Lucretia and Clarice just smiled and sighed in the background. They both longed for that kind of devotion from the men they were falling in love with; but were as yet waiting for this open declaration of devotion and respect.

Hermione stepped forward and curtsied with a bowed head, "Lord Malfoy, it is a great pleasure to make your acquaintance," she looked up coyly with a small smile, "I am grateful for your kindness in allowing me to spend the holidays here in your magnificent home." Tom's chest puffed out with pride as he heard Hermione's gracious speech.

"I'm charmed, young lady. It is my pleasure to have such a lovely witch like you associating with my son and his friends." He took Hermione's hand and brought it up to his lips and pressed a tender kiss, while never cutting off eye contact with her. "You are a lucky man indeed, Tom."

Lord Malfoy then went on to greet his other guests, paying special attention to the other young ladies.

"Father, where is Mother?" Abraxas all of a sudden looked around, "Is she ill?" he asked with worry in his voice.

"She has come down with one of her headaches and sends her regards to you all. "Lord Malfoy recited his little speech about his wife as if he had performed the same dialogue many times in the past.

Abraxas tried not to scrunch his nose up in disgust at the games his mother played. All of his close friends knew what a primadonna his mother was and felt pity for Abraxas .It amazed all of them that he had turned out as kind and outgoing as he had. Of course, they credited his father for all of Abraxas' outstanding qualities. This was one of the main reasons they all came every year to spend Christmas at Malfoy Manor; to support Abraxas and not leave him alone with his family.

Dobby came in at that moment to announce that dinner would be served in the first dining room to the left. A somber group left the drawing room, silently, as there was nothing left to say about Abraxas' sad situation.

* * *

Hermione sat on the settee facing the roaring fire. She was enjoying the solitude that having her own room, provided. She sat sipping the hot chocolate, which Dobby had brought immediately to her and she thought about her life. It was eerie being back at Malfoy Manor. She had not been back to the Manor since she, Harry and Ron had been taken there by the Snatchers. Even though this was a different time and place and also under different circumstances, she couldn't shake the uneasiness of being there.

A knock on her door startled her out of deep thought, "Come in," Hermione gave a soft invitation. Tom strolled into Hermione's bedroom, wearing only his green silk pajama bottoms.

"Aren't you cold, only wearing the bottoms?" She smiled at the mischievous look on her lover's face.

"I think I would be less cold with the bottoms off and snuggled up against you in that big comfy bed." He leaned down to kiss Hermione and managed a loud, "Ummm…you taste very delicious right now. " He sat down next to her, "I seem to recall enjoying tasting a chocolate Hermione before."

Hermione also smiled as she remembered their chocolate fun; smearing the sauce on each other's bodies and licking each other clean. Now she was warmer than ever and the fire had nothing to do with it. Leaning back into Tom, he put his arms around her and nuzzled at her neck.

"This is quite an impressive structure isn't it?" Tom stretched out fully, holding Hermione on top of him.

"Yes, it is quite a remarkable …home." Hermione said stumbling on her words, not wanting to say how she really felt about the Manor and its residents and future dwellers.

"Someday I am going to have a home built, larger than this, "Tom said, then leaning over her shoulder his whispered, "for you and our child." Her stomach gave a mighty leap when she realized what he was implying with this statement. It sounded all so normal for them to be planning a future together with a home and a child. It would all feel good if she could try to forget it was Tom Riddle, the great Lord Voldemort holding her in his arms. Would things be different now that she was in his life? Could future events be altered so as not to ruin the lives of her friends who hadn't even been born yet? Hermione knew that she didn't want to go back to where she came from. Nothing was left for her there, and she knew, deep inside, that her future was here, with Tom…good or bad.

Now lying side by side, on the tiny settee, they were tangled up with each other. As they lay there, looking into each other's eyes, Hermione felt at peace; maybe it was because of the season. Tom, with a slight grin on his face, played with tendrils of hair that encircled Hermione's face.

"Do you realize how much you have changed my life?" Tom asked her gently. Leaning in, he kissed her lips, delighting in the feel of Hermione pressed so tightly against him. "You give me so much hope that I will be able to accomplish anything I set out to do." Noticing Hermione drifting to sleep, Tom lifted her up carefully and walked over to the huge, king sized canopy bed. He laid her down, under the covers and crawled in next to her and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

Charlus Potter sat in his home staring at nothing, letting the silence drive him crazy. What had happened there on the mountain? He had been found by his friends, naked, bruised and alone. They had searched desperately, but Justin Widden could not be found. To make matters worse, he could not remember anything at all. The last thing that he remembered was walking with Justin and the other Gryffindors to Hogsmeade. They were all excited to get on the Hogwarts Express for holiday break.

What had happened to him? Of more concern to all, was what had happened to Justin? Headmaster Dippet and Professor Dumbledore had questioned him thoroughly the entire time on the Hogwarts Express. He had nothing to tell them and felt completely helpless. This was the second time something major had happened to Gryffindors and he was spared again. He felt sick inside, because once again, he was not able to help locate his missing classmates.

"Son," Charlus' Mother came into the room, "you need to come in and eat some breakfast." She put a comforting arm around him.

"I'm not hungry, Mum," Charlus replied listlessly not making eye contact with her, "I couldn't eat anything, even if I wanted to."

Mrs. Potter was not sure how to help her son, except to try to get him to eat something. He had not eaten a thing since yesterday morning. She knew that somehow her son felt responsible, once again, because he was a survivor. The only question was what was he a survivor from?

* * *

Lucretia ran into Hermione's bedroom, "Wake up Hermione, it's Christmas Eve day," and she pulled back the covers and screamed.

Tom's head poked out, "Why are you screaming, woman! "He hollered back at her.

"I didn't expect you to be in Hermione's bed, "Lucretia tried to explain herself, feeling quite embarrassed in the process.

"Well, who did you expect to be in bed with her?" Tom asked sarcastically. Hermione's head came out from under the covers, grinning widely at Lucretia's discomfort.

Lucretia tried to cover her eyes, "Please tell me that you both have clothes on."

"Why don't you take your pretty, little self out of Hermione's room," said Tom, "Maybe we wanted to have a nice leisurely shag before breakfast." The look on Lucretia's face was a mix between horrified and humiliation. Jumping off of the bed like it was on fire, Lucretia ran out the door without looking back.

"You didn't have to be so mean," Hermione chastised Tom for his behavior towards Lucretia.

"Well, she could have knocked before barging in," Tom tried to justify his actions, and "Anyhow, I meant what I said. " Tom lunged for Hermione to trap her underneath him. Hermione was faster and leaped out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Tom asked with a hurt look on his face, "I need you," he said pleadingly.

"You may need me, but I think you need a shower more," and she winked at him and Tom came running in to take Hermione's advice, to shower.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat wearily in his office at Hogwarts, looking over all of the notes taken by the Aurors. How had this happened again? To have students attacked and now one student missing; this needed to stop. He knew who was behind the attacks. He would give his last breath to prove who he thought was responsible.

Last evening, he had spent four hours arguing and pleading with Headmaster Dippet to at least question Tom Riddle and his fellow Slytherins concerning their whereabouts the hour before the Hogwarts Express left Hogsmeade. Armando refused to do anything of the sort. He insisted that he had seen Tom Riddle leave with the first group of students for Hogsmeade and then he had seen him again, prominently on the Hogwarts Express. There had been plenty of students, who had observed Tom arriving at Hogsmeade, carrying Hermione, who had tripped and sprained her ankle on the way.

Dumbledore was still not convinced that Tom's activities, in that hour of question, were still accounted for. Tom was a slippery one and had a way of convincing others in believing what he wanted them to.

There had been absolutely no evidence left that Justin Widden had even existed. When they found Charlus Potter wandering around starkers, and very weak, he was alone and wandless. Dumbledore knew that he had been Obliviated. Someone with enough power and skill, had Obliviated Charlus; and to the casual wizard, they would not be able to detect any modification had been done.

Albus stood up to head to the Great Hall for dinner. There were only a handful of students, along with a few teachers and Headmaster Dippet which were left at Hogwarts for Holiday break. In the next two weeks, he was going to do some investigating of his own; which would mean breaking into the rooms of some certain Slytherins. This was his first step, in proving to Armando, that Tom Riddle wasn't who he was portraying to the rest of the world. Tom was evil and becoming a dark wizard. If he could stop him now, he felt he would save the wizarding world much heartache later on down the road. He sadly knew this scenario from firsthand experience. With a glum look, Albus Dumbledore left his office, thinking back to his old friend Grindelwald, and how things could have been handled differently between them.

* * *

Leaving the dining room, they all congregated in the second drawing room. They had just eaten a delicious Christmas Eve dinner. Now it was time for all of the traditional Christmas Eve activities to take place.

Hermione was feeling very melancholy, thinking back to last Christmas. She had spent Christmas at the Burrow with Ron, Harry and the Weasleys. It had been a quiet Christmas as they had been out searching for the Horcruxes, and not with a lot of luck. They had come back, for a few days, to rest and recover from their travels. There hadn't been many gifts exchanged, but it had been a happy time spent with her friends.

Now, sitting here with her new friends, she couldn't help but think how much her life had changed. Her feelings swung back and forth from sheer happiness, to guilt, at her new associations. Blinking the tears away, she resolved then and there to start living for the moment. Always in her life she had carefully planned out, to the most minute details, how when and why things would happen. It was time to enjoy the moment and who she was with now.

Lord Malfoy walked into the room holding a log, "It is now time to light the Yule Log." He held it high in his hands. "The magical Yule Log, as with tradition, will bring good luck to all that touch it." He walked around the drawing room letting all present touch the log. Lord Malfoy then brought the Yule Log over to the fireplace and placed it in the fireplace, "I bless this log that it will last forever."

Reaching over to a tray, he took a bottle of wine and poured it over the log, "We offer the wine to the Yule Log to make it feel welcome here in our home."

Abraxas lit up a torch, "This torch was made from the wood of last year's Yule Log," he reached down and with the torch, lit the Yule Log. The fire sprang to life lighting the room with the strong smell of wine and maple. "This log will stay lit through the twelve nights of Christmas. If it stays lit, this will bring our family good luck." Hermione smiled at this tradition, as it was one they had done in her own home growing up.

One of the female house elves brought in a large, silver bowl of Wassail. Lord Malfoy, along with his wife, Lady Malfoy, both stood by the bowl of Wassail. "This is our Loving Cup to share with you." The silver bowl was passed around and when each person held the bowl they would shout out, "Wassail!"

Two house elves then poured and handed everyone a glass of Wassail. Raising his cup high, Lord Malfoy said in Old English, "Waes Hael" meaning: be well. The assembled group raised their cups back and replied, "Drinc hael," meaning: drink and be healthy. Then they all drank the ale-based drink seasoned with spices and honey.

Along with the Wassail, the house elves served minced fruit pies. The pies were about 2-3 inches in diameter and filled with raisins, sultanas, apricots, glace cherries, candied citrus peel, apples nuts and nutmeg and cinnamon. Hermione smiled as she ate her mince pie. She remembered, how as a child, she used to leave mince pies and a small glass of brandy for Father Christmas. As with tradition, no one spoke while they ate their mince pies; but a silent wish was to be made while eating the first mince pie of the festive season.

After the culmination of the old traditions, Lord and Lady Malfoy excused themselves. The teens were left to themselves for the rest of the evening.

Alphard ran to the Christmas tree, "Let's open up some presents," he said excitedly like a child.

"Remember," warned Hermione, "Tradition states that only one gift per person is to be opened on Christmas Eve." Quickly she put her hand over her mouth thinking that Ron would have said something about her being a walking dictionary. No one said anything, then they all burst out laughing when Alphard stared at Hermione like he had been caught with his hands in the cookie jar. A wave of sadness washed over her heart as she realized she would never again hear Ron tease her about her "know-it-all" tendencies.

Tom with a wicked grin, headed for the tree, "There are some of us that have something we would like to give our women before bedtime." He reached under the tree and picked up a long, rectangle box wrapped with dark green paper. Hermione noticed that Abraxas and Radbourne also carried long, green boxes to their ladies.

Hermione, Lucretia and Clarice all looked at one another, "Should we open them up together?" Hermione looked at the other two girls and they all said, "Yes!" Wrapping paper and ribbons went flying everywhere. Then the loud gasps and shrieks could be heard throughout the room.

Hermione's jaw dropped and with huge eyes turned towards Tom, "I can't believe you gave this to me!" Hermione looked over at Lucretia, who was turning as red as a beet and Clarice was following suit.

The girls had all been given an elegant, but seductive, long forest green silk nightgown. The gowns had a satin front bodice, lace sides, sheer skirt and matching knickers. No one said a word, except Alphard, "Are you going to model them for us?"

Casper hit him on the arm, "Come on, you big lummox, it's time we left for our rooms." Lifting Alphard up and steering him towards the door, Casper said, "It's none of our business anyhow."

"But it was just getting good, "Alphard could be heard protesting as he was led up the great manor stairs.

* * *

Walking out of the dressing room, Hermione turned in a circle to show off the new nightgown. Tom gave a low whistle and grinned widely at what he saw in front of him. Reaching for Hermione, he took her in his arms and started to slide the straps of the nightgown off of her shoulders. "Tom, stop, I just got the gown on," she said with indignation.

"Now I am taking it off. Why do you think I gave it to you in the first place?" Tom asked seriously. Hermione just looked at him like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I want to keep it on for a few more minutes." She said crossing her arms and glaring at Tom.

"I think we need to duel to see who wins this argument," Tom stated with a straight face.

Hermione, feeling put out, rested her hands on her hips, "I am not dueling to see if I keep this night gown on!" and gave Tom a pout.

"I say we are, "Tom countered and he drew his wand. Hermione seeing that Tom was serious ran to the table and retrieved her wand. They took dueling stances and stared at one another.

"I think that we should go get someone to moderate this duel," Hermione suggested.

"I wouldn't advise doing that, love, "Tom said, his eyes never leaving Hermione, "When I get done with you… you will not be wearing anything."

Hermione quickly shot off a stinging hex towards Tom, "Ouch!" and he rubbed his backside while Hermione laughed. They circled around the room, not taking their eyes off of one another. Hermione wanted to teach Tom a lesson without hurting him. Tom wanted the nightgown off, but he needed to be careful if he wanted in her bed later.

Tom pointed his wand at the ground near Hermione's feet, "Glacialis Terra" and the floor turned into pure ice. Hermione, with great surprise went sliding as she tried to run away. Grabbing onto the bedpost she slammed hard into the side of the bed. Tom, forgetting his own spell, went running towards the bed and fell on his buttocks gliding along the floor and hitting his head on the footboard. Hermione heard the crack when Tom's head hit and leaned down in concern.

"Tom, are you hurt?" she asked anxiously.

Tom looked up with a grimace on his face, "Diffindo" he whispered pointing his wand at the left strap on her nightgown. Hermione gasped with shock as part of her nightgown flopped down exposing her left breast.

"You are a nasty cheater!" she screamed at him. "Aguamenti," and she doused Tom with water. "Maybe that will cool you off!" Hermione started crawling across the bed when Tom jumped up and pulled her down.

"You are not getting away from me," Tom held Hermione tightly around her thighs.

Hermione squirmed, as her top half was flopping off of the bed, "Let me go!" and she tried to slide off the bed. Giving one last tug, Tom pulled and they both went flying backwards into the headboard. A loud crack again was heard as the bed groaned from the abuse. Now with his arms tightly around her waist Hermione could not move.

Suddenly the door was blasted open, "What in Merlin's name are you doing?" Abraxas and Lucretia stood their open mouthed staring at them. "It sounded like you were being attacked in the room," Abraxas stood there shaking his wand at them.

Lucretia started laughing when she realized what was going on, Hermione's gown was half off exposing her chest and Tom's night pants were around his thighs. In their struggle, they had not realized they had been disrobing each other. Abraxas was not sure what to do, when Radbourne and Clarice came running into the room.

"Now why can't we do it like that?" Radbourne asked Clarice as she hit his arm in embarrassment

Hermione gasped as she looked down seeing her front exposed and jumped on top of Tom's lap. Of course Tom, proud of his physique, just sat there smirking at the whole incident. Quickly he slipped his hands over Hermione's exposed breasts. "Ok, peep show is over. Now leave me and my lady alone."

Knowing a command when they heard one, the other two couples hurried out snickering, with Abraxas repairing the door on his way.

"I'm surprised they even ask you back here," Hermione twirled around in Tom's lap, "You are not a very good house guest."

Pulling her into him tightly, Tom leaned down to have a taste of her bare breast, "They love me and you know it. You may not get another invite again either." Hermione's hands followed a path down to his uncovered cock.

"Why don't you just close your mouth and help me get this nightgown off?" she asked with her most breathy voice she could muster.

"It would be my pleasure," Tom mumbled back as he lifted her gown over her head.

* * *

Coming in Chapter 22: Happy Christmas


	22. Chapter 22: Happy Christmas

Twists ahead that you may or may not like! Let me know! Thanks to my readers and reviewers, you make it all worth the time I spend writing this story.

Nicole is always the one who makes it possible getting this story out! :)

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Chapter 22: Happy Christmas

_There was a river of blood flowing in front of her. She could smell the stench that fresh blood emanated. Reaching down she put her hand out to touch the river; it was cool and wet as she rubbed her fingers together. Looking around for the source of the blood, she was startled by a moan. Sounds of agony drew closer and stronger. She stood in the dimly lit cave cautiously waiting for the source of the anguish to approach._

"_Why?" she heard a voice roughly speak, "Why did you do it?" Around the corner stepped Justin Widden with the 12-inch blade stuck in the side of his neck. She sucked in her breath as he eyes glanced at the blade and the ever flowing stream of blood gushing out of his neck. No words escaped her mouth as the tears started falling from her eyes._

"_I need an answer," he said as he stepped closer to her. "Are you happy now?" and Justin reached up to the knife and yanked it out of his neck. A gaping hole was left allowing more blood to flow and splash out her face and robes. _

_As her body shook, he brought the knife close to her face, "No, please don't do this!" she heard herself scream. _

_A wicked laugh burst out of him, "You didn't listen to my pleas of mercy and I will not listen to yours!" She watched as he swung the knife up high and stabbed down towards her. As she started screaming she felt herself falling…_

"No! No!" Hermione yelled and felt strong arms curl around her. "Hermione, wake up, love," Tom tried to calm her as she struggled in his arms. Still asleep, Hermione continued trying to break free from her attacker's grasp; while Tom tried desperately to wake her up.

"Hermione…Hermione, it's me Tom." Slowly she woke from the nightmare and looked into Tom's eyes, "It is you, thank the Gods!" and she put her hands on his face making sure he was really there.

"Yes, it's really me; you were having a bad dream." He looked at her worried about the dream that had been haunting her sleep.

"It was him, Justin, he came back to kill me." Tom could see the true fear on her face, "He had a knife that…you know." She struggled trying to tell Tom what had happened in her dream. Even now awake, she still had horrific pictures in her mind from the nightmare. "The blade was still stuck in his neck and there was so much blood…" Tom had heard enough, pulling her close to him he kissed the top of her head and comfortingly rubbed her back.

"What time is it?" Hermione inquired.

"It's a little before 6:00." He laid her down and curled up behind her, setting his arm protectively behind her. "Go back to sleep for awhile, I have a surprise for you later." Giving her a squeeze, he didn't allow himself to fall back to sleep until her breathing signaled that sleep had taken her away again.

* * *

He had tried to sleep. But Albus Dumbledore knew that he had a job to do. Even if it was Christmas Day and his chance to sleep in; damn it! He wanted to know, he needed to know how Tom and his followers were involved with the Gryffindors disappearance.

What an ideal time to go hunting for clues. There were only five students, all from Ravenclaw, that had stayed at school for the holidays. Dumbledore was free to roam about Hogwarts with no distractions or wandering eyes. Just to be safe, he cast a disillusionment charm on himself and headed down to the Slytherin dungeons.

First, he went to the girl's rooms, specifically Hermione's and Lucretia's. He unlocked the door easily, entered the room and looked around. Of course no one was there, but for some reason his nerves were a bit jittery. Heading over to Hermione's trunk he cast an unlocking charm. With the trunk opening, trouble-free, he levitated all of the items out, to hang mid-air. With annoyance, he quickly realized that there absolutely nothing incriminating in either girl's trunk. Dumbledore went through all their paperwork and nothing but regular schoolwork was present. He searched under beds, even in the tub and shower area, but came up with nothing.

With increased frustration he went next to the boy's rooms. As he came to Tom Riddle and Abraxas Malfoy's room, he knew here he would find what he was looking for. As he attempted to get into the room he was blown back roughly against the wall. Tom, suspicious and cautious as always, had set a trap for anyone trying to break into his room. He had cast a Pugnus ala Permities hex; a sudden expulsion of pressure as though there were an invisible object hurtling towards someone. It had felt like being hit with explosives, Albus thought. He lay in the hallway, dazed and shocked. Riddle was more prepared and ruthless than he had determined. Why would he be protecting his room? Gathering his wits about him, he soon determined the hex that had been cast on the bedroom door and ten minutes later had the gained entrance to the room. Heading straight to Tom's trunk, he again levitated everything out, layer by layer. Nothing out of the ordinary was found in Tom and Abraxas's room. Of course, even Tom's schoolwork was the most tidy and organized out of any students he had ever seen.

Leaving quickly, he went next to Alphard and Casper's room .Once he was effortlessly in the room, the same technique was used to sort through the contents of the trunk. Feeling even more frustrated than before, he again found nothing. As he moved the final things back into Alphard's trunk, he heard a clinking sound as something dropped to the floor. Reaching down to retrieve the item he gasped as he stared down at a Gryffindor tie pin. Why would Alphard be in possession of one of those? Only the boys in Gryffindor House owned a Gryffindor tie pin. Maybe this was the thing he needed to tie Tom and his followers to all of the missing Gryffindors?

With a smile on his face he tossed the tie pin in the air catching it with his other hand. "Happy Christmas to me!" he shouted out. Gleefully he headed out of the dungeons very hungry now for the Christmas feast.

* * *

"Are you going to give him his present before breakfast?" Lucretia was so bubbly she was flitting around the room like a small child.

Hermione just shook her head no, "Later, he needs to be patient and wait." The girls all rushed into the dining room looking as beautiful as ever .As tradition at Malfoy Manor, all the women wore traditional dress robes on Christmas day. The men all stood mouths agape as they helped seat them.

Hermione coyly looked over Tom, puzzled by the look Tom gave her, "What, Tom, why are you staring?"

Tom shook his head, "I have never seen you this way before."

Hermione looked at him quizzically, "What way?' she laughed softly as she arched an eyebrow at him

"You look very pureblood and traditional, like the lady of a manor." With a flushed face Hermione looked down at her hands and mumbled, "Thank you," always thankful she had the power to block Tom from her thoughts.

The breakfast before them looked even better than the norm they were used to at Hogwarts. With wide eyes the teens hungrily looked at the table loaded down with food. There was, traditional black tea for all, orange juice and coffee, scrambled and poached eggs, potato cakes made with onion and rosemary, bacon, sausages, fried mushrooms, baked beans, grilled tomatoes, black pudding, scotch kippers and fried bread. Hermione did not know where to start, but the males quickly jumped in and tried a little of everything.

As Hermione was enjoying her potato cakes and tomatoes, she glanced over at Tom who flinched in pain. Jumping up from the table he threw his napkin down, "Fuck!" he cried out. The room's inhabitants sat speechless as Tom stood shaking by the wall.

Hermione stood quietly walking to Tom as he massaged his temples, "What is it, Tom? What happened?" Hermione tried to touch him but he hurled himself away. Walking back to his seat he fell into the chair with his hands over his eyes. Abraxas's face showed the concern knowing something horrible had happened to get this type of reaction from Tom.

Hermione sat back down with tears in her eyes. It hurt, a little, that Tom had brushed her away.

Tom looked up and made eye contact with all of them in the room, "The wards have been breached on our rooms at Hogwarts." Tom hesitated again before speaking, "You know what this means?" he looked straight at Abraxas. "There is only one wizard, still at Hogwarts, capable of breaking the complex wards that I set to protect our room. "

Hermione's felt sick inside; it had to have been Dumbledore. With clipped speech Tom demanded, "I must know if anyone left anything incriminating in their rooms?" Tom glanced at each of them and they shook their heads no; all except for Alphard.

"Oh Gods, Alphard," Hermione hissed at him, "What have you done?"

Tom jumped from his seat, grabbed Alphard by his dress robes, "What, man, tell me now!" so close to Alphard to spit into his face.

The tears were starting to swell in Alphard's eyes as his bottom lip was quivering, "I…I…I took Justin Widden's Gryffindor tie pin and hid it in my trunk, "he muttered quietly.

Tom threw Alphard into the wall and pulled out his wand and pointed it at Alphard, "Crucio!" Tom shouted between clenched teeth. Not letting up he held the curse as Alphard screamed and twitched on the floor. "Crucio!" Tom yelled, cursing Alphard once again. Hermione sat crying in her seat wondering what this would mean to all of them now. Would Dumbledore figure out that it was them who had killed the Gryffindors? Would they be expelled from Hogwarts or worse yet be sent to Azkaban?

Tom stopped his torture of Alphard, "Let-this-be-a-lesson-for-you," Tom fiercely spat out at Alphard. "The next time you fail me I will not be so lenient!" Alphard could only nod his head, "Casper, Radbourne, get him out of my sight…for a very, long time!"

Tom looking around saw Hermione upset, pursed his lips and glared at her, and then he left the room. The front doors crashed open as Tom fled the manor. Abraxas looked at the dining room entrance as his father peered around the corner, Lord Malfoy stood there grinning, gave a nod to his son and turned to retire to his room upstairs.

* * *

Hermione looked at the clock, it was now 7:00 p.m. Tom had been gone for nine hours now. Hermione kept reaching out to him mentally, but Tom had blocked out all methods of communicating with him. Hermione sat at the bottom of the grand staircase with her head in her hands. It had scared Hermione to her core, to see Tom attacking Alphard; one of his followers. She knew what he was capable of, seeing it first hand, as he had fought against Harry in the final battle. Tom would only become more powerful and fearful as he would age. Would her love be strong enough to tame the wild beast in the Voldemort that she remembered? Gods, it made her heart hurt to even thinking about the older Voldemort and trying to compare him with the Tom that she loved.

Lost in her thoughts Hermione didn't hear when Tom came through the front doors. He walked up to Hermione and she looked at his feet. Slowly lifting her head up he could see her puffy eyes and red cheeks. She gave an inner sob, that rose from her chest and she shot into Tom's arms. All of the worry and intense frustration at Alphard finally broke in on Hermione and she began to sob. Tom hugged her close and rocked her trying to soothe her.

"Tom…" and she pushed away from him as he sat her down. "Don't you ever run off and stay away this long…ever!' she shrieked out, sniffing loudly. Her body shook stirring up her extreme anger and powers. Tom stood there with no expression and then grinning, pulled Hermione back into his arms kissing her forcefully. As they stood there devouring each other in the hallway, Abraxas and Lucretia came out of the sitting room, "Oh joy, things are back to normal, "Abraxas said smugly, "They are attached at the lips again." Abraxas and Lucretia walked over as Tom and Hermione looked over at them. Abraxas and Tom shook hands and Lucretia and Hermione hugged each other.

"I know why he came back, "Abraxas suggested with a smile.

Lucretia piped in, "He was hungry and it's time for Christmas dinner."

With a smile Tom inquired, "Did you open up gifts without me?"

"No, we have all been in different areas of the house, "Hermione told him.

"It's not really that hard to do here at Malfoy Manor; as you well know," Abraxas laughed.

"Yes, Hermione was glued to the stairs, "Lucretia explained cheekily, "She didn't want to move until you walked through those doors."

"By the way, "Hermione asked, "Where were you? I have tried to imagine what you were doing for nine hours."

Tom shut his mouth tightly and shook his head, "I am not telling, it is of no one's concern except my own, "and he walked away.

"I guess now that we can finally eat," Abraxas mumbled as he marched off to the dining room, leaving the girls who stood silently in the hallway.

"Are you sure that you are fine?" Lucretia asked as she brushed Hermione's stray curls away from her face.

"Yes, I will be fine…for now," Hermione gave a small grin back that suddenly left when she said, "What worries me more, is what awaits us when we return to Hogwarts. " Lucretia nodded and linked her arm with Hermione's and they headed towards the dining room.

* * *

After eating a delicious Christmas dinner that consisted of roast turkey with rich nutty stuffing, goose, brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes, cranberry sauce, tiny kilted sausages wrapped in bacon and hot gravy. The best part of the dinner, of course, was the Christmas pudding. What made it so good was the hot rum sauce covering the pudding. Everyone at the table made one silent wish before eating their pudding. They were all excited to see who would find the silver coins that were hidden in the Christmas pudding. Those lucky few who found the silver coins would have good fortune. Hermione and Abraxas were the fortunate ones who found the silver coins. Hermione hid it in her hand when Tom jokingly tried to take it away from her.

Gathering, once again in the sitting room, the group all settled down to open presents, minus Alphard. He had heeded Tom's warning, and did not want to raise his ire. Alphard was leaving the next day to go to Radbourne's house to spend the rest of the Holidays away from the Dark Lord.

"Who is going first?" Lucretia had been on pins and needles ever since the night before. She loved to open presents and give them as well. Running over to the tree she found a big package and took it over to Abraxas. "This is for you," she grinned in anticipation. Abraxas took the package and slowly started to open it up, "Go faster…please" Lucretia begged him. Abraxas, smirking, continued at his slow pace until Lucretia decided to help him. Taking off the lid of the box, Abraxas pulled out some of the most handsome dress robes anyone there had ever seen, they were a cool grey color lined with silver piping along the collar and sleeves. Abraxas was actually speechless for a moment, "These are so stunning," he managed to whisper out. He reached over pulling Lucretia into his embrace, "Thank you so much, love. I will need to take you somewhere special so I can wear them."

Lucretia beaming giggled, "I was hoping that you would think that. I am glad that you like them." Looking at the tree she coaxed Abraxas, "Where's my present?"

Abraxas looked around the room, "Hmm…I am not sure I remember where I put your present," and they all could see that he was teasing her.

Lucretia was almost bouncing out of her seat, "Don't torment me like that, I want my present now!" Walking back to her, Abraxas pulled out a small box and handed it to Lucretia, tearing the paper off she opened the box up and squealed, "Look, it is a bracelet with my favorite gems." Abraxas put it on her and she showed it off. It was a very elegant bracelet made up of diamonds and sapphires. After showing everyone her extraordinary gift, she went back to Abraxas and planted a lengthy kiss on his lips.

"Excuse me," said Tom, "but the rest of us would like to continue with the gift giving."

Lucretia looked up, "Who says that wasn't what I was doing?" and she winked at Abraxas.

Radbourne and Clarice then exchanged presents, giving each other almost the same type of presents that Abraxas and Lucretia had done.

Tom then walked over to the tree and picked up a petite box and handed it to Hermione. Looking at the box, she swallowed and felt her heart beating quickly. With shaking hands she tore the paper off and took the lid off of the small box. Hermione caught her breath when she saw what lay inside; a spectacular ring with a deep green emerald oval in the Center and diamonds on either side. Looking up at Tom with questioning eyes he only smiled at her. Taking the box out of her hand, he picked up the ring and placed it on Hermione's ring finger. Still speechless she stared down at the ring, "Do you like it? If not I can replace it with something else."

Hermione spoke quickly, "I love it so much!" and jerking her hand to her body she exclaimed, "No one is touching this ring," and she looked down with loving eyes to admire the ring again. Then turning to Tom she placed her hand on the back of his neck and drew him near, then proceeded to show him how much she really loved her present.

Pulling away from the kiss Tom lovingly spoke to her, "I hope that you realize that this is more than a promise ring." Lucretia and Clarice jumped around at the side as they heard Tom make his announcement. "So do you accept this ring and me?"

Hermione, with enthusiasm replied, "Oh yes! I am yours!" Abraxas and Radbourne looked at each other rolling their eyes, feeling the pressure that Tom had now put on them, knowing their girls would expect a ring from them as well.

Abraxas walked over to Tom and shook his hand, "What a way to stir things up my friend, "and he hugged Hermione. Of course by now, the girls were huddled around Hermione squealing about the beauty of her engagement ring.

When the excitement had dissipated a bit, Hermione walked over to the tree and retrieved a package. "This is for you, my love, "and she handed the present to Tom. Not taking long to unwrap it he looked shocked as he gazed at his present, "Where did you get this, Hermione?" he asked in disbelief. Looking at her seriously he asked her once again, "How did you ever get a hold of something this rare?" Hermione was so happy that her present, to Tom, was affecting him so much.

He held up the book to show the rest of them in the room what he had received. There were gasps of astonishment as they read the title of the book, _The Personal Memoirs of Salazar Slytherin._ As Tom perused the book he struggled for breath, "This is in his personal handwriting," again he looked at her with inquiry.

Hermione, with delight, answered, "I know a rare book dealer that was able to acquire this for you." The truth of the matter was, that Harry and Hermione had gotten lost in a secret dungeon room their last year at Hogwarts. In the room, they had found several artifacts of Salazar Slytherin and had been shocked that Voldemort had not found them during his student days at Hogwarts. One day last week, she had located the room again and taken the book to give to Tom for his Christmas present. Hermione was still trying to decide whether or not to show Tom the room. But for now, she enjoyed watching Tom showing off his new possession. Hermione knew of his love of acquiring things from the founders of Hogwarts. The only problem had been the nagging fear that he might turn it into a Horcrux; even though he hadn't used it as one before.

"Did you know that I am a direct descendant of Salazar?" Tom asked her as he put his arms around her waist. "This is the best gift that anyone has ever given to me." And he kissed her in appreciation.

Christmas had turned out fine, despite the commotion that occurred that morning. As Hermione stood clinging onto Tom, she held up her hand to admire her new ring that fit perfectly on her hand. No need to worry about tomorrow or next week, for tonight she was safe, warm and very happily engaged.

* * *

So what lies ahead for Lord Voldemort and his followers? I'm not telling, you will just have to keep reading!;)


	23. Chapter 23: Gifts and Plans

TCAT chapter 23:

_Message to all of the readers following my story…I am sorry that it has been so long since I posted to this story. Beginning of September I received the sad news that my husband was leaving me and my children. Since then, I have had to seek full time employment out of the home that has kept me very busy. I want you to know though, I will never abandon this story and I will keep on writing it until the proper end. The chapters may not be posted as often as I would like, but I will try. _

* * *

Chapter 23: Gifts and Plans

New Year's Eve day started off wonderfully for Tom Riddle. He woke up to a bare Hermione, straddling him, and leaning over to sing softly, "Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to my love. Happy Birthday to you!" Hermione had a huge red bow in her hair that made her resemble a little girl, except for the breasts that dangled near his mouth, which made him know this was a grown woman lying on him.

"Do you like your surprise?" she asked with a sexy gleam in her eye and a swirl of her hips.

"Oh, please tell me there is more to my surprise than the song?" Tom was hoping for more; as his body was showing them both he was wanting more and wanting more right now. As Tom always slept starkers, there was nothing between him and Hermione. Reaching up to kiss Hermione, Tom slid his hands down her bare back and cupped her firm behind. His long fingers traced along her now slick outer core. Chills ran through her body as his finger lightly brushed her most sensitive spot. Watching Hermione react to his touch made him harden even more. Tom's lips felt soft and warm as they kissed along her neck and down to her collar bone.

"Oh that feels so wonderful; but today is your birthday. I am supposed to be making you feel good." Hermione arched her back as Tom descended down to her breasts, taking a pink tipped nipple into his mouth.

"This is the best birthday present ever," Tom said breathlessly, "I am doing the thing that I love the most…making love to you." Tom lifted her up and turned her around so he could kiss all along her spine. Spreading her legs wide, he moved in close and slid his fingers down her bottom until her found where she was wet and wanting. Bringing his cock to that spot, he thrust in as Hermione moaned with pleasure. Tom continued pumping into her and she pushed backwards to meet his movements. Tom moved in and out, faster and harder as he rushed for completion. Hermione could feel herself getting close to coming, as each movement from Tom brushed up against her clit. She loved the feel of him driving so deep and hard into her.

As their momentum increased, Hermione soon cried out with satisfaction as her muscles contracted, rhythmically pulsing around Tom's cock. Not able to hold back any longer, Tom let gratification take over as he came in Hermione. Once finished, he softly lay on her back and encircled her waist and he let his heart settle back down. As they collapsed on the bed, Tom gathered Hermione in his arms and turned her to face him.

"Thank you for my present." Tom nuzzled Hermione's neck. "I will always remember this birthday."

Hermione smiled, "That wasn't your real present,"

"It seemed very real to me." Tom teased her. This made Hermione laugh and she shook her head.

"No, I have another present to give to you at your party." And she kissed him fully, teasing his lips with her tongue.

"Well, if it is even half as good as this present, I am in for a fabulous surprise." Tom reached for her left hand to kiss her palm and then stared at the newly placed engagement ring. "This looks good on your finger, as if it was meant to be."

Raising her eyebrow, she sarcastically said, "Well, according to a certain prophecy it was."

At that statement, he began to tickle her and a wrestling match turned into another round of lovemaking.

* * *

After a wonderful dinner of Tom's favorite foods, the birthday party began. Tom had been given many wonderful things from his friends, a book about the Founders of Hogwarts, a set of fancy dress robes and a new trunk for his things.

Hermione sat near Tom smiling and waiting to give him her gift. Tom looked around, "Is that everything?" His eyes were merry as he knew he still had not received Hermione's gift. Turning to Hermione he asked, "Are you going to make me wait all night?"

Hermione laughed, "I already gave you your present this morning in bed and I even wore a bow on top."

Radbourne, rolling his eyes, cleared his throat, "Oh, that is much more information than my stomach can handle at the moment."

Tom gave a loud laugh, "It was a wonderful gift, "he stroked Hermione's cheek, "but I know that there is more; you said so yourself."

Jumping up Hermione ran out of the room. As she came back into the room she held a very large box. Tom eyes lit up with excitement as he stared at the huge package Hermione was carrying. Setting the box on Tom's lap she bent down to kiss Tom, "Happy Birthday. I hope that you like it."

Tom carefully opened up the box and shouted out with pleasure, "Oh, sweet Merlin! I can't believe you got me this, Hermione?" Reaching into the box he drew out a snake that had yellow eyes and a diamond patterned tail. "Is this a baby?"

Hermione shook her head yes, "The seller said it was only a few months old." She smiled as she chatted happily about Tom's gift, "I know how interested you are in snakes and thought you needed your own familiar."

Tom sat admiring his new pet stroking the snake lovingly. "Is it a male or female?"

"It is a female and she looked very intelligent; just the kind of familiar that would belong to you." Hermione was very pleased that Tom immediately loved his gift from her.

"I think I will call her Nagini, after the Naga, the group of half-human and half-snake deities that lived in Malaysia and India. Naga is the Sanskrit word for snake. "The room was quiet as Tom told his story, "They had the power to turn humans invisible in water and would often marry humans."

Nagini turned her head towards Hermione and stared smartly at her, as if to talk to her. "She likes you, Hermione, "Tom teased her. She had debated whether or not to give him his pet snake, but rationalized that somehow he would acquire Nagini and it might as well be from her. Seeing how satisfied he was with the gift she knew that she had made a wise choice. Always at the back of her mind was the thought of how Voldemort would use Nagini against others. With Hermione in his life now, maybe she could extend some control over how Nagini would be used in this future.

"This truly is one of my favorite gifts I have ever received, Hermione, except for all of the other ones you have given me." Looking at Tom, at this very moment, she had never seen a more handsome and loving man. It was so easy to make him into the man that she wanted him to be, forgetting the evil and disgusting Voldemort that had taken so many things away from her.

"I am so happy that you like her," she truly was pleased, "but you have to promise that I will still be the most important female in your life."

Tom smiled brashly, "Well…I will have to think about it…"

Hermione jumped up acting offended and reached for Nagini, "I think I will have to take her back."

Tom held Nagini to his chest, "No. She's mine, you can't take her back," he said in a most unusual childish voice.

Abraxas broke up their banter, "Now, children, either get along or I will take away all of your toys." This brought a laugh from all in the room.

"I think you have had a wonderful birthday, dear friend," Radbourne said, "All the way from a gift wrapped Hermione to this beautiful creature Nagini." Hermione blushed brightly as Radbourne recounted her early morning gift to Tom.

"Yes, my dear friends, I thank you all for making this the best birthday I have ever experienced." Tom ended his speech by stroking Nagini's back and kissing Hermione languidly on the lips.

* * *

It was very hard for the Slytherins to go back to Hogwarts after Holiday break. Not only did they enjoy their time away from classes, but they were all concerned about what Dumbledore may have found in Alphard's room. Had he discovered the Gryffindor tie pin hiding in Alphard's trunk?

Tom, Hermione, and the rest of their friends quietly entered Transfiguration class. Silently slipping into their seats they took out their books and waited for class to begin. Professor Dumbledore entered the classroom jovially and smiled down at the Slytherins. Hermione's breath stopped for a moment at seeing Dumbledore's face. What did that look of glee mean? What message was he trying to give all of them?

Tom leaned over whispering to Hermione, "Why doesn't the bloody fool stop smiling and start teaching?" It seemed that Dumbledore was getting on all of their nerves.

"Is there something that you would like to share with all of the class, Mr. Riddle?" Dumbledore asked smugly enjoying putting Tom on the spot.

"No, sir, "Tom said answering Professor Dumbledore strongly, "We are all sitting here anxiously waiting for out next Transfiguration lesson." The entire class laughed at Tom's response, while the smile quickly left Dumbledore's face. The irritated Professor gave Tom a fast glare and set himself behind his desk. The entire class time was full of anxiety for Hermione and was relieved when they exited the classroom.

"Miss MacMillan, I would have a word with you please?" Dumbledore commanded Hermione. She looked at Tom who gave a nod of his head and mouthed, "I will be out here waiting for you," and he left the class room.

"So, Hermione, how was your holiday?" Dumbledore asked her politely.

"It was fine sir. How was yours?" She wasn't sure where this too polite conversation was heading, but she knew she wanted it over with quickly.

"It was the best holiday that I can remember having in many years, "Dumbledore said with a grin, "I received many wonderful surprises." Hermione tried not to meet his eyes as he was talking to her. "You need to make sure and tell Tom about the wonderful and amazing things that came my way while you were gone. "

Hermione looked up to see Dumbledore sneering at her. "Yes, sir, I shall do that. May I leave now? I have to go to my next class."

"Yes, Miss MacMillan, by all means go, you do not want to be late." Hermione started running to the door and heard Dumbledore mutter as she walked out the door, "Have a nice day."

Tom, leaning up against the door, stared pointedly at her as she rushed out of the Transfiguration classroom. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Hermione turned to Tom.

Rolling her eyes she shared Dumbledore's message with Tom, "He wanted you to know that he had the best holiday ever full of wonderful surprises that came his way."

Tom pushed off from the wall he had been leaning against, "The bastard, he is basically telling us he found the tie pin." Taking Hermione's hand he looked down and whispered, "It may be time for a secret mission of our own."

Hermione turned an inquiring look towards Tom, "Will we be looking for surprises?" she asked with a mocking air?

"That we will, my love, "and Tom smiled at the thought of playing Dumbledore's little game and winning.

* * *

Hermione, way behind in her studies for the first time in her life, was camped out in the library trying to catch up. Tom had been a little put out that she would rather spend time studying alone, than relaxing with him. Just because all things came easily to him didn't mean it was the same for everyone else. Tom was brilliant and really didn't need to study. She on the other hand was intelligent, but had to work hard for her good marks.

Working on a Potions essay she didn't look up when someone sat down across from her. Looking up she expected to see a fellow Slytherin and instead, sat a stone faced Charlus Potter. Trying to act undisturbed by his presence, Hermione shyly glanced at him wondering what was on his mind. Charlus just stared at Hermione which only stirred up her nerves. All day long she had been made to feel apprehensive by men around her.

"I am sorry that… sad things have happened to you in your life." She really did feel bad for Charlus, even though she didn't understand why he hadn't told someone about the planned attack against her before it happened.

"Hermione, can I ask you a question?" Charlus muttered so quietly she could hardly hear him.

Uneasily, Hermione answered him, "Yes, you can ask me anything." She really didn't mean it, but it seemed the polite thing to do.

Looking down at the table, he clasped his hands together, "Do you know who attacked me and Justin?" he looked up to Hermione to gauge her reaction to his question. He saw no emotion cross Hermione's face, which really wasn't like her. She was the only one he felt he could pose this question to and have a fighting chance in getting a straight answer.

Hermione, knowing she had to protect those whom she loved, questioned him back, "Maybe you could give me the names of the boys who raped and beat me?" she determinedly fired back to him.

Staring down, he looked back up at her, "I guess it's only fair that you question me back." Standing, he pushed his chair in, "It's time to leave our friendship behind, as I now understand that we see things so differently," he voiced his sentiments bitterly.

Hermione held her emotions inside until Charlus walked around the corner. The tears fell, as she felt another piece of her old life dying and drifting away.

* * *

"Armando… Armando, can I speak with you for a moment?" Albus Dumbledore desperately needed to sequester the Headmaster to show him the damning evidence he had found against the Slytherins.

Still feeling a bit agitated at Dumbledore, Headmaster Dippet tried brushing him off, "Maybe I will have some spare time tomorrow."

He turned to head to his office when Dumbledore grabbed his arm, "I have more information about Tom Riddle's involvement in Justin Widden's…"

"Enough! I will hear no more about your sick obsession with our Head Boy Tom Riddle!' Headmaster Dippet pulled his arm away from Dumbledore's grasp. "Let it be, Albus. Leave this fine young man alone!" Dippet sternly glared at Dumbledore hoping his message was finally sinking in. "Take care of things that should be of more importance to you; such as teaching, Professor." He marched away angrily, fed up with the Transfiguration Professor.

Dumbledore stood, stunned, at the outburst from his close friend, Armando Dippet. If he couldn't convince the Hogwarts Headmaster that Tom Riddle and his group of followers had committed murder, then he would go over his head and contact the Ministry of Magic. One way or the other, Tom Riddle would pay for the crimes he had done.

* * *

Hermione, alone in her room, lying on her bed, tried sorting through everything that had happened the past four and half months. Though she was worried about Dumbledore and the confiscated Gryffindor tie pin, and Charlus Potter and his suspicions, she had one rather huge thing plaguing her. She had been suspecting something the past two weeks since they had returned from holiday break. Could it have happened again so soon? She had never been so careless in all of her life, but when she was with Tom, she could only think about the prophecy about her and Tom and their future child.

Fidgeting nervously with her wand, she waved it around her head then lowered it to her uterus. Silently saying a spell, she watched her wand closely as it glowed a bright blue. With great relief, she knew now that she was truly pregnant. The first time that she had found out that she was pregnant she had been shocked and distraught. Things were different now, not only did she want to be a mother, but with this child would come power; great power even to control the Great Lord Voldemort. Now that she knew the truth, she had to decide when and how to tell Tom.

The knock on the door startled Hermione so much her wand flew out of her hand landing on the floor. Tom walked in, picking up her wand on the way over to her bed, "What have I told you about keeping your wand with you at all times?" he smiled, handing her the wand, and leaned down to kiss her inviting lips.

"Where are your books?" he asked teasing her, "I thought for sure I would find you with your head in a book." Hermione just gave a crooked grin and looked down at her wand thinking of what it had just revealed to her.

"What's wrong? You seem very quiet and I can tell that something is wrong?" Tom knew Hermione well enough now to figure out that she was holding something back from him.

"Nothing is wrong, "she said smiling at him, "In fact, something is very right." Tom's eyebrow cocked in his familiar way and he sat down next to her putting his arm around her. Hermione took a deep breath as she noticed the trepidation written on Tom's face.

"What if I told you that another part of the prophecy is being created?" Hermione waited to see how long it would take Tom to connect her cryptic clue. It didn't take long for Tom to piece it together as he laid his hand on Hermione's stomach.

"So it's true? You really are pregnant again?" His face lit up as he thought about the son he so desired to carry on his name and legacy.

"Yes, it is very true! I just found out and I knew that you needed to be the first, well, the second one to know." Hermione felt so satisfied that she would be able to carry and bear Tom his long prophesied son.

"I want you to know, love," Tom tenderly held Hermione's face in his hands," I will do everything to protect you and our child." He leaned forward and kissed her with such love and affection Hermione's heart felt like it would beat out of her chest.

"I will destroy anyone who attempts to harm you." Tom fiercely spoke as he thought about what had happened to their first child and how this would never happen again as long as he was living.

Hermione did feel safe in his arms and just enjoyed being held by her lover. While Tom's mind began to race thinking of his enemies, mainly Albus Dumbledore, who would do everything to destroy his happiness and his future; he vowed right then and there to annihilate the lofty Dumbledore before he had a chance to threaten him or his loved ones. This would be the new mission of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters; how to take down Dumbledore once and for all.


	24. Chapter 24: Secrets

Chapter 24: Secrets

Maybe it was the smell of the bubotuber pus mixed with the smell of fluxweed. It could have been the pungent perfume Lucretia was wearing, as she was sitting in front of her. All that she really knew was that it stirred something inside of her, so fierce and strong; she wasn't able to control it. Why was this happening now? Why did it have to happen here?

Hermione looked up into Tom's eyes and felt his gaze sweep over her shaking form. He knew what was coming and had no power to stop it. Like a volcano erupting, Hermione's breakfast traveled up and out of her mouth spilling onto the worktable and on today's Potions assignment. A chorus of groans and gagging could be heard throughout the room.

Professor Slughorn sauntered slowly across the room to their table. "My child," he said with concern, "have you taken ill?"

Tom, stepping in to help Hermione, held her hair as she threw up the remaining contents of her stomach, "You could say that," he wanted Hermione out of the Potions classroom immediately, "She needs to be seen by the school nurse." Tom quickly vanished away the mess and put his arm around Hermione and steered her towards the door.

Uncharacteristically Radbourne commented, "Well that was a fine way to ruin Potions class."

Stopping suddenly, Tom whirled around glaring at Radbourne, "You not only owe Hermione an apology, but you will pay for that remark."

Radbourne paled as he realized his mistake. It was not like him to utter his thoughts out loud. He tried hard to mutter the words, "I'm sorry," but nothing came out.

Tom pointing his finger at Radbourne said, "I will be talking to you later," he said crisply, "be available when I summon you."

Abraxas stepped forward to intervene until he saw the fire dancing in Tom's eyes. Taking a step backward, Abraxas tugged at Radbourne's arm and motioned for him to sit down. Every Slytherin present in Potions class knew that Radbourne had crossed the line with Tom; especially because it involved Hermione. Alphard, who had been at the receiving end of Tom's anger before, walked over to Radbourne giving him a supportive smile and a pat on his back.

Radbourne started imagining in his mind all of the horrible things Tom would do to him for punishment for mocking Hermione. He regretted not only speaking out loud, but for even getting out of bed that morning. Clarice grabbed his hand trying to soothe him, "Maybe he will calm down before he talks to you."

"I doubt that. He meant what he said and I will take what I deserve." Radbourne put his head in his hands, while the room remained strangely quiet; being grateful it wasn't them who had stepped out of line with Tom Riddle.

* * *

Tom paced around the Hospital Wing as the nurse looked after Hermione. It was going to happen, the truth coming out about Hermione being pregnant again. Tom had hoped that this would all be revealed later, rather than sooner, but it was too late now. He glanced over to the corner bed where Hermione lay, pale and nervous.

The nurse looked over at Tom with a scowl on her face. "Mr. Riddle, I would think that you of all people would know better than to get your girlfriend pregnant again so soon after her recent miscarriage." The jaw muscles on Tom's face were gritted tightly as he was lectured.

Hermione timidly looked up waiting for her own lecture to come, "And you, young lady, I would think you would want to take better care of your body."

Hermione opened her mouth to defend herself but before she said a word Tom spoke up first, "No lectures are needed here," he said in a firm, flat voice, "Hermione is pregnant and she _does_ need care at the moment. No amount of nitpicking is going to change the fact that she is already carrying my child and she intends to bear that child."

The nurse stood rigid with pursed lips just gawking at Tom. Hermione sat holding her breath waiting for a blowup. After a two minute stare down the nurse excused herself and left for her office. With his back stiff and standing proud Tom watched her as she walked away.

Slowly turning around Tom sat down on the bed next to Hermione. "Don't let anyone convince you that this child you are carrying is a mistake." He took Hermione's face in his hands, "What you are doing will be the most important thing you will ever do in your life." Leaning in, his lips caught hers and pressed vigorously expressing all of the emotion he was feeling inside. Rising quickly from the bed, his hand brushed against her womb where their child was growing and then he quietly left the Hospital Wing.

Hermione put her hand on her slightly rounded belly, "It's okay, baby, nothing will ever harm you…not even your father." She lay back down with a sigh, rubbing circles on her belly; as she wondered how someone as smart as herself could have ever landed into such deep trouble.

* * *

Hermione was resting, as the morning sickness had drained her strength. Silently Lucretia and Clarice came into the bedroom. She lifted her head up, which only made the room spin and her stomach restless.

"No, Hermione, just stay there, "instructed Lucretia, "We just came by to make sure that you are fine."

Clarice sank down onto Hermione's bed to give her a quick hug. "Yes, after Potions class today, which will always be one of the most memorable in Hogwarts history…"

"Stop now, it wasn't that bad? Was it?" Hermione looked at both of her friends whom she knew would tell her the truth. By the look on their faces she realized that it had been that bad.

"Professor Slughorn ended up cancelling class after three more people got sick after you did." Lucretia, sitting at the foot of the book looked at Hermione seriously, "What's really going on with you, Hermione? Please tell us the truth; we are your friends." Lucretia leaned forward to take Hermione's hand in hers, "Whatever it is we are here to help you through it."

As emotion and hormones took over, Hermione felt the tears on her cheeks and knew she had to tell her closest friends why she had been sick.

"Clarice, Lucretia…" Hermione observed the concern on their faces, "There is a reason why I have been sick, I am pregnant again."

"I knew it!" Lucretia said loudly, "I told you that was the reason for her being sick." Lucretia bounced on the small bed in excitement."

"Have you told Tom yet?" Clarice asked, "He needs to know right away this time."

"He is the first one I told ." Hermione reassured her friends, "We both are thrilled that we have another baby that will be born...this time." Clarice and Lucretia both looked at each then back to Hermione, "Tom has promised to protect me and the baby. I trust him implicitly."

Hermione sensed their hesitancy about Tom and his power to take care of her and the baby, "Please don't worry. Everything will be just fine and this baby will be safeguarded."

Lucretia climbed off of the bed, and walked across the room, then turned around, "Hermione, we still have several months of school left. How are you going to hide your pregnancy from others?"

Hermione, looking slightly puzzled, looked down at the slight bulge on her stomach, "Who said I was going to try and hide my pregnancy? Everyone knows that Tom and I are now engaged."

Clarice, not wanting to hurt her friends feelings replied, "Hermione, most of the time if this happens," she pointed at Hermione's stomach, "propriety states that the girl leaves school for the duration of her pregnancy until the child is born."

Hermione sat speechless staring at Clarice and Lucretia. She could not believe what she was hearing. The friends that she had counted on the most seemed to be turning their backs on her. "So you are stating that you will be embarrassed to be seen with me once I start showing?" Hermione tried hard to keep her temper from flaring, but was doing a poor job.

Rushing back to the bed Lucretia took Hermione's hands in hers, "No, no…don't you ever think that we won't support you through this. We are just concerned how others will treat you."

"I am not going to worry about what others think as long as I have all of you behind me…us." Hermione looked earnestly at them.

"You can count on me and Abraxas," Lucretia told her, "We will support you and will do whatever you need us to do."

Clarice also spoke up, "You can also count on Radbourne and I to help in any way that you need." Then she gave a sly smile, "You do know that Radbourne didn't mean to be rude to you earlier today, right?"

Hermione smiling back laughed, "He should have known better. I thought at first that it was Alphard opening his big mouth again." They all laughed knowing that it was hard for Alphard to keep his mouth shut.

"Can you please influence Tom not to be too harsh with Radbourne? Tom looked so angry earlier."

"I may be able to do something," Hermione did have something specific in mind in how to punish Radbourne. She was going to make sure that Tom dole out the punishment the way she wanted it done.

"Thank you for being so good to me," Hermione looked from one friend to the other, "at my old school I never had any close friends that were girls."

Lucretia raised her eyebrows questioning her, "Who were your best friends?"

"My best friends were two boys in my class," Hermione smiled thinking about her escapades with Harry and Ron, "They would have done anything for me and I them." The smile faded as she thought how she had been unable to help them in the end. It seemed so long ago that she saw both of her friends fall to Voldemort and his followers. Once again, she had a hard time reconciling the Tom she loved with the monster that took Harry's life.

"Hermione, are you fine? Can we get you anything?" Lucretia again became worried looking at Hermione's pale countenance and her sudden silence.

"No, I am fine. I just need to rest." She gave a slight smile, "Thank you for coming to visit me." Lying back down she rolled over to face the wall, ending the conversation.

Clarice and Lucretia's eyes met as they quietly walked out the door. There was more to Hermione's story than she had told. The problem was would she ever trust them enough to share it with them?

* * *

The next evening found the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort back in the Chamber of Secrets. The Dark Lord had called his followers together, to warn them about the impending danger that was threatening them in the form of one Albus Dumbledore.

"As you all know," Lord Voldemort sat at the head of a large round table, his forceful voice booming through the chamber, "Professor Dumbledore's erratic behavior has put us on alert." All of the Death Eaters sat silently as their leader spoke to them. "He is becoming more paranoid as the days go by. He is obsessed with catching me or one of you doing something, anything wrong. "

Voldemort rose from his seat to start circling around the table, "It is vitally important that you watch every step you take and do no wrong, in or out of class."

Hermione, sitting near Tom's chair snapped her fingers and Radbourne came running and Hermione pointed to her feet. Radbourne hurried away and came back with a stool and lifted up Hermione's feet. He then hurried and sat down in his seat. The Dark Lord continued his pacing and circling of the room, not stopping at all as Radbourne performed his service for Hermione.

"As Dumbledore continues his unreasonable behavior, you must all watch his every move." Hermione snapped her fingers again, and gave a little cough. Radbourne once again jumped up, left and came back with a glass of water for her. All eyes were now concentrated more on the game playing out between Hermione and Radbourne and less on what Lord Voldemort was cautioning them about.

Lucretia and Clarice looked at each other, "What is going on?" Lucretia mouthed to Clarice. Shrugging her shoulders slightly Clarice mouthed back," I don't know. Radbourne did not tell me anything. "

Lord Voldemort finished with the pacing and sat down next to Hermione. "I need patrols watching the populace of each Hogwarts house…" Once again Hermione snapped her fingers and motioned towards her stomach. Radbourne, for the third time, jumped up and left the room, entering again with a small tray of food setting it in front of Hermione. As Hermione brought grapes up to her mouth The Dark Lord exploded next to her, "Are you finished yet?"

With her nose in the air, Hermione said in a very firm voice, "No, I am not. Did you not say that Radbourne was mine to do with as I wished for 48 hours?"

Tom's eyes narrowed as he looked at her and then back at Radbourne. "Yes I did, but you are distracting everyone with your antics. "

Putting her hand on the Dark Lord's arm she said in a low seductive voice, "But I was hungry and thirsty and my feet hurt. "

Trying not to roll his eyes he turned his head and stood back up, "We will be dividing up into small groups to patrol the hallways, the grounds and other areas around Hogwarts. We will be looking for suspicious activity from Dumbledore or any Gryffindors." People tried hard not to whisper to one another as the instructions were given. "If anything is detected, you will inform me immediately."

Abraxas stood to divide the Death Eaters into their investigative groups and Hermione looked over at the Dark Lord. She inwardly gasped as she looked at Tom's right hand. There, on his finger was Marvolo Gaunt's gold ring, set with a large black stone. She recognized the ring from when Dumbledore had worn it. He came into ownership of the ring after he had injured his hand destroying the Horcrux that had been hidden in the ring. The only difference now, was the stone was not cracked like it had been when Dumbledore was in possession of the ring. Hermione tried not to look anxiously at Tom and the ring, but was frantic wanting to know when he had acquired the ring. Hermione knew the story behind the ring and how Voldemort had obtained the ring originally. She had her suspicions and was planning on confronting Tom as soon as the meeting was over. Her other worry was, if events had happened, like before, then the ring the Dark Lord was wearing, had already been made into a Horcrux. He looked over at Hermione and saw her looking at his hand. Hermione quickly looked away, trying to formulate in her mind how to question Tom later about the ring.

* * *

Hermione was quiet as she left the chamber. Tom noticed her silence and her sudden coldness. He thought she was annoyed at him about the confrontation concerning Radbourne earlier. His patience was wearing thin this evening and he wasn't in the mood to have an argument with Hermione tonight. They entered Tom's bedroom while Hermione went and sat down on the chair at Tom's desk. Tom shut the door forcefully and turned around to face his moody fiancé'.

"What is wrong, Hermione? Are you angry at me for chastising you in front of your fellow Death Eaters?" Tom leaned against the desk with his arms crossed and his eyebrows knitted together in defiance.

"It had nothing at all to do with that, " she looked up at him, "you are keeping secrets from me and I don't like it. "

Tom gave a crafty smile and nonchalantly replied, "Of course there are secrets I must keep and the sooner you realize that the better we will get along."

Hermione slammed her hand against the desk and stood up to face him, "Bollocks, Tom!" Hermione was close enough to press her tiny body up against his large frame. "I told you before; if we are to be together as man and wife you will be truthful to me."

"Why do you think I am hiding something from you?" Tom threw his hands in the air in protest.

"Where did you get that ring?" Hermione gestured to his hand. She had decided not to play games when it came to discussing where he had gotten the ring.

"I just picked it up. Why do you care where I got it?" Now Tom's head was pounding with fury as he did not want to tell Hermione any of the details behind how he acquired the ring.

"I care because once again it is one more thing you are keeping from me." Hermione grabbed his hand to look at the ring and could feel the power emanating from it. Tom shook her hand off and rubbed the ring with his finger. "You didn't have that ring until we came back from the Malfoys."

Hermione knew the story behind how Tom had obtained the ring. She also knew who he killed in order to possess the ring and turn it into a Horcrux.

"I still wonder where you went on Christmas day for nine hours," Hermione kept pushing Tom. Now was her chance to see how much he trusted her, "Is that when you purchased your ring?"

Tom walked away for a second and whirled around quickly, "If I tell you something do you promise not to ever share this with anyone…ever," Walking back to Hermione, he ran his fingers up and down her neck; she could feel the cold edge of the ring scraping against her tender skin. "This ring is a family heirloom. I inherited it from my very fanatical uncle. It belonged to my maternal grandfather." He took the ring off of his finger and put it in his trunk. "I will not wear it any longer if it upsets you. My uncle could not take care of it any longer, because of his illness, so I took it into my possession."

"Ok, thank you for telling me. " Hermione sadly looked up at him as she reached up to caress his cheek. Then she turned and left the room. As she walked to her room she tried not to feel betrayed. Tom had not told her the truth. She knew the ring was a Horcrux and she knew that he had acquired it the day that he had killed his father and his paternal grandparents. It made logical sense that on Christmas day he had gone to Little Hangleton and committed murder in order to make this Horcrux.

Feeling very alone, Hermione went into her bedroom. Rubbing her stomach she talked to her unborn baby, "It is just you and me, baby. I can't trust your father and he apparently doesn't trust me." The tears could not be held back as she realized she would never be the most important thing in Tom's life. She was just another piece of his puzzle in acquiring power to take over the wizarding world. What was she going to do now? No solution came her way. It was well into the wee hours of the night before sleep graciously transported her away from her problems.

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_Author's notes:_

OK, before anyone gets too excited about "events" happening in the wrong order, please realize this story is nowhere close to cannon, it wasn't meant to be cannon, so any of the events that my Tom Riddle does in TCAT will be different from what he did in cannon. Just sit back and enjoy the story for what it is...I am!


	25. Chapter 25: Follow The Leader

Here it is...Finally!! Thanks again to Nicole and also all of you still reading the story and giving me good feedback! I so appreciate all of your wonderful reviews that are such great motivation to write more!!

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Chapter 25: "Follow the Leader"

"Lord Voldemort, I trust your judgment," said Abraxas Malfoy, "I am always at your service and… I just wanted to ask if…"

"Malfoy, spit it out already!" Tom was answering in rather loud whisper. "The whole idea of a secret mission is that one is supposed to keep it covert." He glared at Abraxas as he scolded him. Both men slid silently along the wall looking in all directions for interlopers. Several groups of Death Eaters were supposed to have blocked off this area, to only allow access to Lord Voldemort and Abraxas into Professor Dumbledore's chambers.

"I really think, and I speak boldly here, but Hermione will be very angry when she finds out that you went on this mission without her." Abraxas stood looking at Voldemort.

Tom turned around and put a fist into Abraxas' chest, "You are not to worry about Hermione; she is my responsibility." Abraxas tried to stand tall as he saw the fury in Voldemort's eyes, "She is pregnant with my child and I will not put her or my child in harm's way!" Tom still pressed into Abraxas' chest, "Do I make myself clear concerning Hermione?"

Abraxas stood there dumbfounded at the news that Hermione was pregnant again. Lucretia had not said a word to him about her pregnancy. "Yes, my Lord," Abraxas said gruffly, "I understand and congratulations about your child."

Tom took a step back from Abraxas and ran his palms down Abraxas' shirt and patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you. Now shall we go retrieve the article that could incriminate us?"

Abraxas nodded his head, "Yes, Lord Voldemort. " They swiftly but quietly made their way towards Dumbledore's chambers.

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Dumbledore looked down from the faculty table and glanced at the Slytherin table. It seemed to be fairly sparse despite it being dinner hour. The main Slytherins, who seemed to be missing, were Tom Riddle and his many followers, including Hermione. A tingle of apprehension went through him as he sensed that the Slytherins were up to no good. Excusing himself from the table, he left the Great Hall in search of the missing Slytherins.

The first place that he headed to was down into the dungeons. They seemed to congregate together often; probably holding secret meetings.

Unknown to Dumbledore, there were two Slytherins trailing him as he left the Great Hall. Radbourne and Casper had been assigned to follow Dumbledore all around the castle and not let him out of their sights. They also were ordered to stop him, at any cost, from going back to his own chambers. Both young men knew what was at stake and Radbourne especially had to prove his worth, once again, to Lord Voldemort. After his embarrassing display of serving Hermione during the Death Eaters meeting, he knew that the next time Voldemort would be doling out the punishment, not Hermione. Not wanting to take any chances, Radbourne disillusioned both he and Casper before continuing to follow Dumbledore.

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"I am so furious!" Hermione sat in the Slytherin common room. Pouting as she complained to Lucretia and Clarice, "I know that Tom and the others are off doing something important."

"But why would they not tell us what is going on?" asked Clarice.

Hermione in a snit answered, "Tom and I argued, so now I am being punished." She rolled her eyes in annoyance, "I was asking too many questions." Lucretia glanced at Clarice, neither one knowing how to respond to Hermione's rant.

"But I am not going to sit here all night. We are going to go looking for them." Hermione stood up, "Are you coming or not?"

Lucretia followed, "I don't want to go, but I will, only because I don't want to see you hurt or in trouble."

Hermione reached out and hugged Lucretia. "Thank you for coming with me."

Clarice still sat on the sofa staring at her two friends, "You two go ahead without me. I do not want to face the wrath of an angry Lord Voldemort." She sat with her arms crossed defiantly.

Hermione looked perturbed, "Fine, Clarice, you sit here and wait while we go thwart Dumbledore." Hermione stormed out of the room while Lucretia turned and shrugged at Clarice and waved farewell.

Hermione and Lucretia left the common room and headed upstairs while Dumbledore stood in the shadows watching the girls depart. "_Well, well," thought_ Dumbledore, "_Hermione is not attached to Tom's side? What does that mean?" _ Dumbledore decided that following the girls would probably lead him straight to Tom Riddle, so he soundlessly followed a short distance behind. He was unaware of the Death eaters that were tagging behind him.

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Abraxas stood shifting nervously looking down the hallway. Tom had been trying to lift the protective wards on Dumbledore's chambers for the last fifteen minutes and so far he had not been successful. Frustration was setting in as he had thought that this would be something he could accomplish easily.

"Do you see anything, Abraxas?" Tom asked with a slight tinge of concern in his voice.

"No, my Lord, the sentries have been successful at keeping the stragglers away from this area of the castle." Abraxas was grateful for that small thing this evening.

Tom knew that he only had limited time to beak in and search for the Gryffindor tie pin. It was of the utmost importance that this item be retrieved and quickly.

Trying once more, he used a long forgotten spell that someone of Dumbledore's magical experience would employ. As he uttered the spell, Tom felt the wards shift and a strange vapor escape from underneath the door. Tom was feeling very smug that he had outsmarted Dumbledore.

"Malfoy, stay here and alert me immediately if anyone is approaching." Tom disappeared into Dumbledore's private chamber.

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Hermione and Lucretia had been searching for over an hour and still had not seen a sign of Tom or Abraxas. Where could they have gone? Both girls were getting irritated that they were wasting their whole evening with no results.

Hermione leaned against the castle wall, "You don't think that they were going to go and retrieve the…item tonight do you?" The fury started building in Hermione; she was supposed to be the one to accompany Tom with that mission. "Why is he doing this to me now?" She threw her hands into the air with frustration.

"I know why he is doing this," Hermione sniffed back her tears in annoyance, "He thinks I am weak… now that I am pregnant again."

Lucretia felt helpless in not knowing what to do or say to make Hermione feel better. In reality she was probably right, now that Hermione was carrying Lord Voldemort's heir he would do anything to protect his child.

"Hermione, maybe we should go back to the Common Room. I don't want anything to happen to you or the baby." Lucretia was almost begging Hermione, "Please, let's go back and wait for Tom and Abraxas to come back from their mission."

Hermione could sense the fear in Lucretia's pleading. With a heavy sigh Hermione gave in, "Oh fine, let's go back. I am sorry if I was pushing you too much." She recognized the look of relief on Lucretia's face.

"Thank you so much, Hermione. I know that we won't regret doing this. "Lucretia seemed happier at the moment than she had all night long. The girls' turned around and headed back down the corridor.

Standing quietly in the alcove was a dumbfounded Albus Dumbledore. He couldn't believe what he had just heard; Hermione was pregnant again with Tom Riddle's spawn! This child should never be allowed to be raised by Tom Riddle; in fact this child should never be born. He should have realized that Tom would make sure that Hermione would conceive again soon. Narcissistic people like Tom only look after their own wants and needs and be damned to what is good for anyone else.

Dumbledore knew that he needed somehow to come up with a plan to protect Hermione from Riddle. There was only one solution and he had been working on it for the past month. He needed to get Hermione away from Tom and the key to accomplishing that was well hidden in his own chambers.

Slipping quietly away from his hiding spot, he looked around, stopped, and sensed a presence. As he looked up and down the hallway he spoke aloud, "It must only be a ghost wandering the castle." Seeing no one, he continued on his way.

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Radbourne and Casper both let out gasps of relief as soon as Dumbledore turned the corner.

"I can't believe that he almost caught us," Casper spoke breathlessly.

"He didn't and we need to be more careful." Radbourne tugged at Casper's arm, "Come on, he is getting away from us. We can't let Dumbledore get back to his private chambers. What if Lord Voldemort is still there?" Casper had a frightened look on his face.

"Yes Casper, all hell will break loose if Dumbledore finds the Dark Lord snooping about." Radbourne started walking away, then turned back around "I can tell you one thing, Dumbledore will be stunned at what a formidable opponent Lord Voldemort has become. " Radbourne whispered sharply looking at Casper, "Come quickly. I am not going to be responsible this time for fucking things up." Casper ran swiftly to Radbourne's side and they left to follow Dumbledore through the castle.

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Hermione stopped abruptly and pulled Lucretia to the side, "I think someone is following us, "she whispered to her.

Lucretia tried to convince her otherwise, "I think that you are nervous…I mean, after what happened to you."

"No, Lucretia, "Hermione's hands roughly grabbed Lucretia's shoulders, "I know someone has been following us all night." Hermione broke away from Lucretia, like she had just stuck her hand into a burning fire. "I am not going to be a victim again. I need to find Tom now! Come on!"

Hermione took off quickly leaving Lucretia standing there as if Hermione had gone mad. Hermione didn't know where she was running, she just knew that she had an overwhelming feeling that she needed to get away from the danger threatening her. As she ran through the halls, Lucretia was right behind her, "Hermione…Hermione, slow down!"

As Hermione darted around another corner, she went flying down the stairs, as she slipped and lost her balance. Lucretia heard her scream and then saw Hermione land on someone.

Hermione was being held tightly in someone's arms and was stunned at who it was. She was looking up into the beautiful blue eyes of Charlus Potter.

"Hermione, are you all right?" Charlus looked rather worried, "You came flying around the corner so fast I didn't even notice you. I am so sorry."

Hermione moaned as she suddenly felt intense pain in her ankle. She tried moving it but it only made the shooting pain even worse. "I can't move it very well," she said pointing to her ankle.

"We need to get you to the hospital wing," Charlus started to help her up.

"No, Charlus, I will be fine." Hermione tried to stand up but she fell back hard on the stairs.

"You cannot do this on your own. Why won't you let me help?" Charlus was getting perturbed by Hermione's resistance. Lucretia was standing by the side, shifting back and forth in nervousness, not sure what she should do to help.

"Charlus, please don't take offense. I can just do this on my own." Hermione tried to soften things with him.

"Is it because of what I said to you the last time we spoke?" he spoke with great sadness. "I have been beating myself up regretting those words to you." Charlus reached up to brush Hermione's cheek with his hand. "Please say that you will forgive me, Hermione?"

Hermione's insides melted as she looked into the pleading face of Charlus Potter. He so closely resembled his future grandson, Harry; it brought tears to her eyes. She knew that she couldn't be angry with him any longer. Hermione threw herself into the arms of Charlus and hugged him tightly. Charlus responded back in the same by squeezing her firmly. To the side, Lucretia was hoping that the Dark Lord would not round the corner any time soon, or there would be blood spilled this night.

"So, are we friends again?" Charlus asked hopefully. Hermione nodded her head enthusiastically at his question.

"Yes, most assuredly…oh, that hurts!" Hermione leaned forward again in pain.

"So will you let me help you now?" Charlus swept her up once again in his arms.

Hermione put her arms around his neck and tried to smile up at him, "Yes…you may take me to the hospital wing." Hermione groaned again as another shooting pain ran down her leg and to her ankle.

As Lucretia followed them, she silently murmured to herself that she hoped they would make it to the hospital wing without running into anyone from the house of Slytherin. Voldemort would not be pleased that his woman was being taken care of by another man, especially a Gryffindor.

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Abraxas felt like he would vomit any minute. His insides were so tangled up in knots, from worry that they would be discovered by Dumbledore. He kept pacing up and down the hallway, looking around corners until he knew every tile and brick in this area.

The door was flung open as an exasperated Dark Lord stormed towards him. "There is something wrong with Hermione!" He walked away quickly, "I could tell by my tattoo, it was inflamed again."

"Where is she? How do you know where to find her?" Abraxas was getting riled as he realized that if Hermione was in harms' way then Lucretia would be right with her. "Wait, my Lord, did you find…it?"

Tom looked back at Abraxas like he was insane, "No, I did not and right now I could care less. My woman and our child could be in danger and I need to go to them." Tom started running down the hallway with Abraxas right beside him.

"What will you do now? What if he knew we were coming?" Abraxas continued with the questioning.

"Abraxas," Tom stopped unexpectedly, "Dumbledore's chambers have so more spells and magical wards than anything I have ever encountered in my life. We will have to come up with another plan." Abraxas could see the total aggravation in Tom's eyes and knew that this was a total disappointment to him.

"I am not giving up, but right now Hermione is most important and I wish to not discuss this other matter any further," he said curtly.

Not wishing to further anger his master, Abraxas nodded his head in acknowledgment, "Yes, my Lord, and let us be off to find Hermione."

Tom could sense where Hermione had been and knew if she and been hurt she would probably had been taken to the hospital wing. Not letting any more time go by, he and Abraxas made their way to the hospital wing quickly.

Rushing through the doors of the hospital wing, Tom's blood ran cold at what he saw before his eyes, there sitting by Hermione's bed was Charlus Potter holding her hand. All heads turned quickly, Hermione, Charlus and Lucretia, as they looked up into the stormy eyes of a very irate Tom Riddle.

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More to come very, very soon!


	26. Chapter 26: The Bully

Here is the next chapter as promised. No one is murdered in this chapter, so you can relax.

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Chapter 26: The Bully

As Tom set foot onto the hospital wing, his chest felt so tight he could hardly breathe; there right in front of him, was his woman, holding the hand of his enemy.

As all eyes turned towards Tom, Charlus stood up quickly and kicked back his chair. Reaching into his robes he pulled out his wand, after he observed the death stare directed his way. Taking a fighting stance he was prepared to defend himself against Riddle.

Tom immediately brought out his wand, heading towards Charlus to confront him about his actions. There was no need at all for this Gryffindor to be manhandling Hermione. Lucretia jumped out of the way and ran off to hide behind Abraxas. Hermione tried to crawl out of bed, but the shooting pain down her leg made her crumple back down onto the bed.

"You have 30 seconds to tell me why you were touching Hermione," Tom spoke loud and forcefully, "Even then, your reasons will probably not be good enough for me not to curse you until you are begging for mercy." Tom's words sunk in deep to all listening to him. When Tom spoke, he had a way of commanding the room and his words striking home and taken seriously.

Charlus seemed to stammer as he tried to answer Tom, who was now standing directly in front of his face. "I…I…was just helping Hermione." Charlus was not known for his bravery, despite being a Gryffindor. One could sense his fear as he stood facing Tom Riddle.

"She doesn't need your help," Tom emphasized his point by pressing his wand into Charlus' chest.

"Tom, leave him alone," Hermione spoke up from her bed, "I was running to find you and I slipped and fell." Tom could tell from Hermione's tone of voice she was annoyed with him. "You weren't there and Charlus was; so he helped me get here to the hospital wing. "

Tom still stood there, fiercely looking at Charlus, "That still doesn't explain why he is still here and holding your hand." Hermione truly had no answer for him. She just knew that Charlus did not deserve Tom's anger, because after all, Tom was not there when the accident had happened. If he had taken her with him on the mission, instead of Abraxas, they would have been there together and Tom would have also taken care of the idiot who had been following her.

"Tom, quit being a bully! You were not there when I fell and needed assistance, but Charlus was." Hermione went in for the kill, "Plain and simple, Tom, you were not there to be the hero and save the damsel in distress." Abraxas turned shocked eyes towards Hermione, Lucretia tried hard not to giggle at her sarcasm and Tom's face turned a bright red at hearing Hermione's chastisement.

Abraxas reached down and squeezed Lucretia's hand, "I think that it is time that we took our leave," and he started tugging at her arm, leading her towards the doors.

"If we leave now, Tom will kill Hermione and Charlus," Lucretia stopped moving, glancing over at her friend in the bed.

"No, we are going now! I do not want us to be part of his death count," Abraxas dragged a reluctant Lucretia out of the hospital wing who was hoping that she didn't live to regret leaving an enraged Tom with her friend.

As the doors closed, Hermione finally looked at Tom. She knew that now he was more irate at her than Charlus. "Mr. Potter, you need to leave immediately. I need to speak with Hermione, my fiance…alone."

Charlus stood there trying to appreciate the reprieve he had been given, but feared leaving Hermione with Tom when he was clearly perturbed. Charlus, not wanting to ignore this "gift" from Tom Riddle, looked over at Hermione, who only nodded her head towards the door. Charlus tried to show his concern through his eyes, not daring to speak a word.

"Go, Charlus, before he changes his mind," Hermione whispered loudly. Not wishing to anger Tom Riddle any further, he glanced one more time at Tom's stern face and left the hospital wing. Total silence was all that was left in the room, along with Tom and Hermione.

Tom stood at the foot of Hermione's bed with his arms crossed in front of him, glowering down at her with a curled lip.

"I thought that you wanted to talk, my love…so talk," Hermione said in a feisty voice, "I am not going anywhere at the moment." Then Hermione looked up at Tom giving him a wink and a big smile.

"Gods, you infuriate me and make me want you so much, all at the same time." At that declaration, Hermione knew that everything was fine. Her feelings were confirmed as Tom sat down, gathered Hermione in his arms and kissed her with the urgency of a man wanting to show possession. Tom entangled his hands in her curls pulling her as close to him as he could. Hermione moved her hands across Tom's chest, loving the feel of firm, hard muscles quivering at her touch. Tom pulled Hermione onto his lap, forgetting where they were and why.

"Ouch! Tom, my leg, it hurts!" Hermione's frantic words showed how much she had really injured herself.

"Tom, I really was running to find you. " She kissed him along his jaw line, coming to a stop at the base of his neck. She ran her tongue along his collar bone loving the salty taste of his skin.

"Why were you in such a hurry to see me?" Tom tried hard to concentrate on what Hermione was saying; while his body wanted the attention her lips were giving him. "Is this why you wanted to see me so much?" Tom moved her hand to the bulge in his pants, moving her hand back and forth as he became harder by the second.

"No, don't be such a prat. I wasn't coming to find you for sex." Hermione laughed as she continued to stroke Tom, "Someone was following me and Lucretia for about an hour."

Tom swiftly put his hand on Hermione's, stopping her stroking movement, "What do you mean someone was following you? Did you see who it was?"

"No, that was the problem. I didn't see anyone; I just had a feeling we were being followed." Hermione felt so foolish trying to explain this to Tom.

Holding her hands in his, he held them to his chest, "I believe you, Hermione." Tom instantly became concerned about who was out there that still wanted to hurt Hermione.

"Lucretia thought that I was just feeling nervous because of what happened to me at Halloween time," tears welled up in her eyes remembering the trauma she experienced not only, physically, but mentally. Looking at Tom, she couldn't hold back the tears, and he wiped them away, "I told her that I was not going to be a victim again." Gently, he brought her close to him as he held her tight, giving her the feeling of being loved and protected.

"What part of the castle were you in when you felt like you were being followed?" Tom asked her with great concern.

"We were following you and Abraxas," Hermione looked up timidly into Tom's eyes, "I had a feeling that you had gone on the mission without me and that made me very angry."

Tom suppressed a grin at Hermione's accurate guess, feeling proud and slightly troubled at the same time. "Yes, that is exactly where I was and I left you behind on purpose." Tom looked down at Hermione with a superior manner, knowing that this would rile her up.

"I knew it! I told Lucretia and Clarice that you went off without me because you were worried about me." Hermione's voice was high and sounding a bit screechy as she told him how she felt, "This was supposed to be our mission to go on together!" She tried rising up from the bed, but fell back down in pain.

"Yes, we were supposed to go together, but that was before we found out that you were pregnant." Tom leaned over Hermione until their noses were touching and she could feel his hot breath blowing on her face, "Anyhow, this was not your decision to be made; after all, I am Lord Voldemort." As the words escaped Tom's mouth, chills coursed through her body at not only his proximity to her, but at the thought of his future self. Memories came crashing down on her of the final battle and how Lord Voldemort had taunted Harry until he had come out of hiding to face the Dark Lord. She remembered how curse after curse was thrown between Harry and Voldemort and how there was nothing that she could do. The memory of the final strikes also raced through her mind when simultaneously, curses were shot out by both wizards that killed both Harry and Voldemort.

Now looking up into Tom's eyes she truly felt scared. She felt frightened for her child and how she did not want it to be the next Dark Lord, as the prophecy suggested. Gods, how was she ever going to change things where she might be able to grab hold of some semblance of happiness, keep her baby and maybe still love Tom? Hermione knew that she was probably fooling herself that this would even be possible, but she had to try, right?

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Tom stern tone and appearance disappeared while he hugged her to his chest. "I care so much for you and this child; you have to allow me to protect you both." Tom kneeled on the bed rocking Hermione in his arms while Hermione sat stiff, dumbfounded and speechless.

"The first thing that we need to discover is who was following you and then take care of them." Tom released Hermione as his fingers trailed down her flushed face. "You need your rest, but you will show me where this all occurred tomorrow when you are released from the hospital."

Bending down again, he grabbed Hermione's head in his hands and fiercely attacked her lips with his, with a force that almost surprised her. Standing up, he ran his hands over her head, his fingers lingering in her curls. Affectionately, he smiled down at her, "Good night and sleep well." Tom walked across the room, looking back once more at Hermione with uncharacteristic fondness, and walked out the doors..

Hermione lay there pondering back and forth about her chances of Tom becoming the man that she wanted him to be. She also worried about how fate may have already cast its mark, leaving her no possibility of altering the future for her, the baby and Lord Voldemort.

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"Enter" Radbourne and Casper heard the Dark Lord's deep voice inviting them into his room. They walked in to find him laying on his bed, still with his school robes on and writing on some parchment. "What is it that you needed to talk to me about at this late hour?" Tom asked in a somewhat put out tone of voice.

Radbourne and Casper dropped down on their knees and bowed their heads "My Lord," Radbourne started, "We know who was following Hermione this evening." Neither Casper nor Radbourne dared looked up until they were invited to rise.

"You may stand," The Dark Lord instructed, "Tell me now so I can quickly take care of the fool who bothered Hermione and Lucretia tonight."

Standing up, Radbourne and Casper glanced at one another as Radbourne spoke, "It was Dumbledore, my Lord." Both Death Eaters saw the displeasure that came across Voldemort's face. They watched as he took a deep breath and his eyes lit up with rage.

"So the great Dumbledore now stalks innocent women around the castle, does he?" Both men knew that this was a mocking question. "He was thinking that they would lead him to me, correct?"

"You are accurate as always, Lord Voldemort," Casper spoke up swiftly, not wanting to give him any reason to be angry at either one of them.

Jumping off of his bed, he threw the parchment across the room, "Damn that man! Hermione could have been seriously injured in her fall." Pacing back and forth, Radbourne and Casper stepped back, to allow plenty of room for The Dark Lord's movements. "This is why he needs to be taken care of. He wants to hurt me in any way that he can." As he circled around the room his pace increased and his voice became louder, "I will not tolerate any more of his meddling actions!"

Radbourne and Casper stood silently, hoping that none of this fury radiating off of Voldemort would suddenly be directed at either one of them. "You both did a tremendous job this evening, not only diverting the old prying arsehole from me and Abraxas, but you followed him closely as he was tailing Hermione and Lucretia," he stopped directly in front of the two Death Eaters. They both held their breaths as they waited for the final outcome, "You will be recognized for your good work tonight…now you may leave."

With no hesitation, Radbourne and Casper both bowed to Lord Voldemort and high tailed it out of his room. They had achieved their goal for the evening; they were once again in The Dark Lord's good graces.

As the door closed, Tom stood there shaking with ferocity. Dumbledore was declaring war on him and those he cared about and he would answer the call back with full force. His wrath only increased, when he once again, thought how easily Hermione could have lost the baby with her fall. He would have to issue 24 hour guards protecting Hermione and this growing child. They would have to be discrete, of course, or Hermione would refuse the protection that they could provide.

Tom left his room, heading deeper into the dungeons, to find solace where he would not be disturbed. He needed to make plans, drastic plans, before Dumbledore spoiled everything that he had worked so hard to achieve.

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Hermione was in a deep sleep when she felt something cold brush her cheek. Waking up, shaking, she looked wildly around the dark hospital wing. Standing there in the shadows stood a ghost, the Grey Lady, staring at her with a slight smile on her transparent face.

"What do you want?" Hermione inquired in a somewhat timid voice. "You didn't just show up to watch me sleep did you?"

The Grey Lady smiled down at Hermione, "I know a secret…something that you have been wondering about." Hermione shook her head unsure, in her still sleepy state, what this beautiful ghost was talking about. "You have been seeking something the past few months, that I alone know where to find."

Hermione still seemed perplexed at the riddle that The Grey Lady was presenting to her at this ungodly hour. "You and Tom Riddle will meet me tomorrow in the Room of Requirement at 12:00 p.m. sharp. Then we shall see if you are worthy to be the caretakers of my secret," her voice drifted off into the vast silence. Then the pearly white ghost floated over to the wall and disappeared.

Hermione lay their stunned and befuddled somewhat, wondering what the bleeding hell that was all about. With all that had been happening the past few months there were many secrets that Hermione wanted to know about, but still unsure of what this puzzling encounter with the Hogwarts ghost had been about.

Laying back down she tried to fall back to sleep, though it would be a long time before that was accomplished. She still felt chilled by her nighttime visitor and the conundrum that had been placed before her. Hermione, being the scholarly person she was, lay thinking of the great secret that would be revealed to her the next day.

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OK...this last part is not cannon, like most everything else in this story, so just sit back, relax and enjoy. Hermione is not going to know anything about the information that the Grey Lady has to share with them.


	27. Chapter 27: The Grey Lady's Lament

_Remember...this story is not cannon...so Hermione and Tom do not know the information that they are told at the end of this chapter. ;)_

_Thanks to my ever faithful beta Nicole! _

Chapter 27: The Grey Lady's Lament

Tom sat with a cloud of hate surrounding him as he stared at Albus Dumbledore. Absolutely nothing deterred his complete hatred for the man; not the consistent chatter bouncing around him, the giggling from the silly Hufflepuffs ahead of him, nor the piercing gaze from Dumbledore himself. He wanted the old fool to know that he was being challenged and by a very strong, determined wizard. The only sign that he even acknowledged anything surrounding him was that he was holding tightly to Hermione's hand with a death grip.

"Hold it down back there!" Hermione spat out to the group of Slytherins laughing behind her. "As for you," she turned to Tom and grabbed her hand and shook it like it was on fire, "I am miffed at you squeezing the life out of my hand here."

Tom still looked straight ahead at Dumbledore, not even recognizing that Hermione had even spoken to him. Dumbledore sat at his desk returning Tom's steady stare, ignoring the rest of the class as they prattled on in merriment. Most of the students were too busy with their own conversations, to even notice the show down that was occurring between the Head Boy and their Professor. The only students even watching the face-off were the inner circle of the Death Eaters. Abraxas sat close by, with a sick look on his face, hardly breathing, wondering if the Dark Lord would do something foolish in his great irritation at Dumbledore. Lucretia sat by his side chewing on her fingernails also watching the two wizards shooting daggers back and forth with their eyes.

Tom knew that he should not have come to class today with how incensed he had been the last fourteen hours. The second he had heard that Dumbledore was responsible for Hermione's latest accident, he wanted retribution. In his mind, threatening Hermione and his child was also an attack against him. For seven years now, he had felt Dumbledore's growing resentment for him. The more his power had grown he knew that Dumbledore was feeling hostile at the thought that someone would be more powerful than himself. It wouldn't be that hard to beat the old nutter and prove once and for all who controlled the Wizarding World. As soon as he was finished at Hogwarts, his plans would escalate with the imminent pureblood takeover of the wizarding world. Too many Muggles were infiltrating their world and needed to be taken care of. This would be the Death Eaters mission to show who would rule and this also included the running of Hogwarts.

"For crying out loud, stop staring at that ancient wanker and let's leave!" Hermione whispered to Tom, trying to stop the insane, nonverbal clash that was taking place between Tom and Dumbledore.

Hermione stood up, grabbed her books and yelling to know one in particular shouted out, "The lot of you are daft!" and Hermione marched her way past Dumbledore shooting him a killer look as she strode out of the classroom.

Abraxas leaned over to Lucretia, "Well that was a dim show of annoyance."

Rolling her eyes at Abraxas' statement she whispered back to him, "I am chalking it up to pregnancy hormones."

"I don't think that Tom even noticed that she walked out, "Clarice said leaning over at hearing the conversation between Abraxas and Lucretia, "and I don't think that she likes being ignored by the man who should be worshipping her."

"I think that you are being a little bit unfair, Clarice," Lucretia came to Hermione's defense, "I think that she just wants to get all of us through the rest of the school year and in one piece. Tom is just provoking this nonsense with Dumbledore."

"You're wrong, Lucretia; The Dark Lord is protecting what is rightfully his. Dumbledore threatened you and Hermione, so in his eyes, the threat needs to be taken care of." Abraxas knew he couldn't give any more details of Tom's plans to "take care of" Dumbledore, but he at least could help them understand the importance of Tom's actions in class.

After twenty-five minutes of the staring contest and the class getting totally out of hand, Dumbledore stood, pushing his chair away from the desk "Class is dismissed for the day. You will read chapter 60 from your textbook and write a report on what was read, which will be due on Thursday." The professor's eyes were still glued to Tom Riddle as he gave the class instructions.

"You all may be going…except for Mr. Riddle…you stay after class." Dumbledore stood at the front of the class with his arms folded and a look of opposition on his face. The muscles in Tom's face looked as if they were ready to spring from his face. He was clenching his teeth so hard one hoped that he didn't cause damage to his beautiful smile.

The class scurried out as quickly as possible; relieved to be let out early away from the dreary "lesson" that had occurred today. Abraxas, always being the Dark Lord's right hand man, lingered in his seat as the rest of the class had left the room. "Mr. Malfoy, you were included in the number of those that were dismissed." Dumbledore was not in the mood to deal with anyone else at the moment except Tom Riddle. Playing these games with Riddle had become very wearisome to him. The sooner he put him in his place, the better. "Now, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said in a rather loud voice not usually heard from him," and shut the door as you leave…and this is not a request."

"Abraxas, go now, I can take care of myself. You are making me look foolish," Tom commanded him in a quiet voice.

"I will go, but I will be right outside of the classroom waiting for you, my Lord," Abraxas gathered his things and glanced once again at Dumbledore as he made his way out of the room.

As the door shut, the silence hung in the room and all that could be heard was the tapping on Tom's foot on the floor.

"What is this about, Mr. Riddle? You have disturbed my class this day and even made me cancel the lesson…"

"You made that choice on your own, old man," Tom was ready to let the insults fly. He was not scared of Albus Dumbledore and needed to make this point loud and clear.

"You will show me respect as I am your teacher…" Dumbledore stated to Tom, when Tom interrupted him again in his booming voice.

"I only show respect to those that deserve that honor, and you, sir, most certainly do not! " Tom now was standing as to be level with Dumbledore. "How dare you threaten to harm Hermione and Lucretia last night?" Tom noticed the look of surprise that crossed Dumbledore's face. "Oh, do not act like you are unaware that Hermione was injured last night. She was being followed by someone…that someone would be you!"

Tom knew that he had Dumbledore in a corner as he saw the look of culpability in his eyes. Dumbledore started to speak but was cut off by Tom, "This war between us does not involve innocent women and children. But by bringing your own stupidity into play, you could have harmed Hermione and my…" Tom stopped abruptly as he had almost referred to the unborn baby.

"Your…child, Mr. Riddle?" Dumbledore now had a nasty smile on his face. "Yes, I do know that Hermione is once again pregnant with your offspring. You are a very selfish man, Tom Riddle." Tom clenched his fists and wanted desperately to grab his wand and hex this bastard into oblivion. "It has only been a few months since her last pregnancy that ended in failure. You do know that I have the power to suspend both of your from Hogwarts?"

The heat from Tom's fury, if measured, would be the same temperature as lava flowing out of a volcano. Dumbledore could see that Tom was about ready to blow up. He had his own wand very handy just in case this encounter came to blows. "I am not going to suspend either of you, but I will be watching both of you. But how will you hide this condition from the rest of Hogwarts?"

"This is not your problem; it is mine and Hermione's. We will be fine and you need to make sure that you stay away from her and my child." Tom took several steps forward towards Dumbledore. "The baby will be born long after we leave Hogwarts."

Dumbledore was disgusted about the thought of Riddle's child, "What do you want with a child, Riddle? You don't know how to love anything. All that you love is yourself."

Tom rushed forward grabbing Dumbledore's robes in his hands and pulling the man close to him, "I swear to any God that is listening at the moment, if you harm Hermione or my child I …will…kill…you!" he shoved Dumbledore propelling him against the wall. Dumbledore took out his wand casting a spell that threw Tom across the floor.

The doors swung open as Hermione rushed into the room, "What is going on in here?" She looked wildly from Tom to Dumbledore who were both picking themselves off of the floor and were about ready to cast more spells at one another. With both wands, inadvertently pointed at her, she called out, "Accio wands" and both wizards' wands flew into her hands. The look of shock was shown by both Tom and Dumbledore at Hermione's quick move. "For God's sake, both of you grow up!" Hermione glared at both men and strutted out the door, sending both of their wands back into their hands as she left.

Picking up his things, Tom turned to Dumbledore one last time, "I meant what I said, leave Hermione and my child alone, or you will die at my hand some day." Dumbledore just sneered at the threat, knowing that he and he alone had the winning card in this game. Riddle would not have his child to brainwash in the future; he would never allow this to happen. Rubbing the back of his head, he just smiled, knowing how riled up Tom had been. This was just the first part of his plan. Now that Tom was aware that he knew about the pregnancy, well, more fun was to come. He whistled a happy tune as he strolled off to his private chambers.

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Hermione went flying into her room throwing her books across the floor.

"You get back here and talk to me now!" Tom came running in behind her slamming the bedroom door shut. "Why are you acting so crazed, Hermione?" Tom bellowed at her.

Hermione turned on him and rushed into his face, "Shut the fuck up! This is your entire fault!" Her hands yanked at her own disheveled hair in frustration. "Oh why can't you see that baiting Dumbledore will only make him want to come after us even more?"

Tom screamed back at her, fisting his hands so he wouldn't hither, his anger being so great, "I am doing this for you and our child!" her threw his fists forward making Hermione flinch.

"No, Tom, you are doing this for you," she pushed her finger into Tom's chest, "You want to prove to the great Dumbledore that you are the even _more_ powerful Lord Voldemort. Now is neither the time nor the place to prove your point."

Tom groaned in annoyance, "Yes, now is the time," his eyes were lit with the fire that had been sizzling in him all night and day. "He is standing in my way of becoming who I should become!"

"This always comes back to you doesn't it? You don't really care about me or this child." Hermione turned accusing eyes to him, "All that you care about is how we fit into your plans to make you ruler over the Wizarding World." Now the truth was out…hanging there in the room for both of them to see. Tom stood there speechless as he stared into Hermione's eyes.

The mask was off and Hermione saw the truth written all over Tom's face. This thought had been dancing around Hermione's mind for several months and finally the words had escaped her mind and flown out of her mouth and into the open.

Hermione started to sob that soon turned into hysterical laughter. "You can't deny it can you, Tom? We are just little pieces in your great puzzle that could easily be tossed aside." She turned and walked away from Tom, "Gods, I have been so stupid!" She screamed loudly as she hugged her now protruding belly.

Tom walked over to her to put his arms around her. Sensing his movements Hermione jerked away, "No, don't touch me! Leave me alone." Her shout turned into a whisper. Tom's eyes were fixed on her shaking shoulders as the sobs once again raked her body. He really did not know what to say to counteract what she had said. This woman wasn't like the others that could be soothed by slick words; Hermione was too intelligent. Knowing it was a useless cause at the moment, Tom gathered his composure, "I will meet you at midnight in the Room of Requirement for our appointment with the Grey Lady. " Hearing no response from Hermione he turned away, glancing only once more at the woman carrying his child and he left her room.

As the door shut Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes. She was at a crossroads and did not know which way to turn. Too many powerful emotions were coursing through her and for a split second she felt her Eternal Flame tattoo heat up, wondering what emotions were causing Tom Riddle to feel pain. Did he really care for her and this baby more than she realized? Of course he would never tell her, that wasn't his way. As far as she knew, Lord Voldemort had never believed in the power of love. This disbelief in love had been his downfall many times in his life; first while Lily Potter had been protecting her son Harry and then once again as Harry had been defending the friends he loved. How had it all come to this? She had never intended to fall in love with Tom Riddle.

Falling down to the side of her bed, her head fell onto her arms. Had she just admitted to herself that she was in love with the Dark Lord? How could she be in love with a man that could never truly love her? That thought alone, struck deep to her inner soul, bringing deep grief; especially because now she was pregnant with his child.

Feeling tired, she lay down to nap before dinner. After all she was intrigued by her midnight rendezvous with The Grey Lady. What in the world would she be able to help them with? One never knew what secrets were still hidden in this great castle. After all _Hogwarts a History _didn't hold all of the answers; she should know after the many times she had read the massive book. Taking it down from her shelf she decided to read through its comforting pages until sleep came or dinnertime.

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Hermione woke feeling extremely irritable and hungry. Not only had she taken a long nap, but she had slept right through dinner and now she was ravenous. Glancing at the clock there was not time for a snack, just enough time to get up to the Room of Requirement. Glancing in the mirror at her unruly hair she applied a relaxing charm on her mussed up hair. There was also no time to change her rumpled robes, after sleeping in them for several hours. Feeling very drowsy and disoriented, she disillusioned herself before leaving the Slytherin dungeons. Hermione felt slightly uneasy sneaking around Hogwarts without Tom by her side. She had been hoping that maybe he would have come to her room to get her before heading to their secret meeting with the Hogwarts ghost. In the pit of her stomach she felt sick realizing that Tom had not come to her after their fight.

Pacing in front of the wall that hid the Room of Requirement nothing seemed to be happening. Why was the door not appearing? What was she doing wrong? Feeling a tingling sensation going down her spine, she knew Tom was there before he reached out to put his arms around her waist. Leaning back into his arms, Tom pulled her back close into his chest. His face rubbed against her head, "Hermione…I have been thinking a lot about what we discussed…"

"It's fine, Tom, we don't need to …" Hermione was worn out and did not want to fight any more with him about anything.

Turning her around to face him, he looked down at her, "No, I do want to say something to you. You deserve at least that from me. "With a confused look, Hermione searched Tom's face for the sincerity behind the words, "What I have told you before, I meant it ardently; I care very deeply for you and our child. I will do whatever is needed to protect you both. I may not be the loving man that you have always dreamed of, but I will always be there for you and would defend you to my death." His hands wove into hair and down to her slim neck. As he rubbed circles along her neck, the warmth of his touch spread through her body. But the frankness of his words was more demonstrative than any physical touch, and they expressed his feelings to her explicitly.

She knew that this might be all that she would ever get from Tom. Should she take what he was offering? Would this be enough for her emotionally? Looking at this wonderfully handsome man, standing there with this peace offering, would she be daft to not accept it? Her love would have to be enough for the both of them and their child. Hermione's hands pulled his head down to her waiting lips as they roughly latched on to one another. Suddenly the Room of Requirement door appeared and Tom swept Hermione up in his arms. Opening the door he quickly rushed in and finding the four poster bed he laid Hermione on the bed. Reaching down he unbuttoned her robes and hung them over the side of the headboard; he did the same with his own robes tossing their shoes to floor. Seeing Hermione lying there with her hair billowed out around her head, her cheeks flushed, his desire rose tenfold. Leaning down, he licked his lips as he watched her breasts rise and fall in anticipation of what was coming. As he cupped her breasts in his hands, she shivered as her breasts swelled at his touch. Hermione moaned as Tom lay down on top of her, rubbing against her. His tongue teased her lips open again as they dipped in to taste her. Pulling her shirt up, Tom made fast work of removing her bra and quickly licking the hard peaks of her breasts. She buried her hands in his hair, holding him tightly to her chest, as she throbbed with passion.

"Why can't I ever resist you?" Hermione said as she gasped as Tom suckled on her breast.

"No woman can fight my charms; especially you." Tom slid Hermione's skirt down her legs. He growled deep in his throat as he gazed at her lying there only in her lacy, black panties. Even though he was completely dressed, his manhood was fully swollen as Hermione wrapped her fingers around him through his trousers. He caught his breath and closed his eyes as she stroked him.

"That is how all of my problems started all of those years ago." The haunting voice startled them as they both jumped on the bed and jerked around at the sound of the Grey Lady's voice. She stood there floating near the bed, smiling down at the pair trying to hide Hermione's body. Hermione grabbed her bra and blouse haphazardly putting them back onto her body.

"My love for the Baron and his devotion for me led to both our demise." The Grey Lady watched them like they were standing in the middle of the Great Hall, and not two people that were beginning to make love.

"Grey Lady, I don't mean to be discourteous, but I am sure that you didn't summon us here to talk about your soured love many years past," Tom's impatience at being interrupted was showing.

"My real name is Helena…Helena Ravenclaw." Tom and Hermione's eyes met at the mention of the Ravenclaw name. "The Baron and I were to be married. But Mother and I had a falling out. I stole something very important of hers and ran away to Albania." Tom was sitting on the side of the bed in great anticipation sensing that they were about to receive information of great importance.

The Grey Lady stood there, silently, with a remorseful look on her translucent face.

"What was it that you stole dear lady? You can trust us with your most private information." Tom exuded his immense charm.

Looking at both Tom and Hermione, she was trying to decide if she really could trust them, and she wrung her ghostly hands in concentration.

"Please let us help you, Helena. You came to us for a reason," Hermione spoke to the ghost in a comforting voice.

Giving a low moan of anguish she went floating over to the far wall, and then silently drifting back to them. "I stole what you now seek, Tom Riddle." Tom's eyes lit up with interest. "I took my Mother's most precious possession."

She turned around and gave an eerie smile, "She was so angry with me, so I decided to punish her." Tom and Hermione looked at one another waiting with great anticipation. Neither one spoke for fear the Grey Lady would suddenly disappear. "My Mother became quite ill and sent my estranged fiancé after me to persuade me to return to her deathbed."

Giving a high laugh she returned to her story, "What did my lover do when I refused to return with him? He lost his temper and said I was too stubborn for words." At that statement Tom glanced over at Hermione giving her a cheeky grin.

"He was so displeased with me that he drew his knife and he plunged it straight into my breast." She then wailed the piercing sound reminiscent of Moaning Myrtle's melancholy laments. "Then the Baron took his own life using the same knife. He was so distraught after killing me he was out of his mind." Hermione's eyes lit up at hearing the Grey Lady tell her story, "To this day he carries the bloody stains of his sins."

Tom quietly spoke up, "The Bloody Baron was your fiancé'?"

"Yes. But he was not to be my Eternal Beloved. Intellectually he was not my match," she said with some arrogance.

Tom reached over and lifted Hermione's hand to his mouth to kiss her delicate fingers, "In that respect I have been most lucky." Tom then winked at Hermione that made her blush deep red at his praise.

"Helena, would you please share what you took from Rowena?" Hermione was most anxious to find out the secret the Grey Lady was holding still surreptitiously in her hands.

"All I have ever wanted was to possess the greatest wisdom to be found on this earth. I was holding to the promise found on the relic, _Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure. "_

Hermione jumped up, standing face to face with the Grey Lady, "O dear God! You mean the diadem?" Hermione was shocked at the revelation. For the first time that night, Helena Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady, gave a genuinely happy smile.

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_I think that there may have been one person that guessed correctly about the diadem. Thanks for reading and reviewing and see you on chapter 28!_


	28. Chapter 28: Mistakes

_Thank you for the many wonderful reviews and thank you to the loyal followers of this story. You make it so worthwhile writing this story for you._ _We are no where near the end, so keep hanging in there for the ride..._.I still do not own these characters, only wish I did instead of the esteemed JKR. Thanks to my beta Nicole.

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Chapter 28: Mistakes

Thoughts raced through Hermione's mind as she comprehended what the Grey Lady had just divulged to them. She couldn't believe that it was truly possible that soon she would have her hands on Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. She would now be able to satisfy one more of her requirements to become an official follower of Lord Voldemort, and this would also be a means of fulfilling her promise to Flamina. She had promised the goddess that she would do everything in her power to help Lord Voldemort fulfill his role of becoming a great and powerful leader in the Wizarding World.

Hermione had to quickly sit down as she felt dizzy and elated about the news. Tom now jumped off the bed in a flurry and walked over to stand next to the Grey Lady. "My Lady, where is the diadem? Please would you be willing to share with us where it lay hiding?"

With the sly smile of someone waiting to share a great surprise, the Grey Lady spoke, "You know I have been watching you both. I like you."

Tom was trying to be patient, but Hermione could tell he was ready to jump out of his skin, but he spoke calmly, "I am so pleased you like us, but…"

The Grey Lady's laughter broke off Tom's speech, "I will tell you, Tom Riddle; don't fret." Hermione saw Tom wince as the Grey lady referred to him 'fretting'. She knew that Tom, more specifically Lord Voldemort, was not someone who was known to 'fret'.

"My secret hiding place for the diadem is close to where I was killed."

"Albania," Tom said with a whisper.

"Yes, Tom Riddle, you will find the diadem in the Pindus Mountains Mixed Forest, hidden in a large European Beech tree."

Hermione came to stand next to Tom, "So all we have to do is search every European Beech tree in the whole Pindus Mountains Forest?" The question almost came out in the form of a strangled cry.

Tom looked sternly from Hermione to the Grey Lady, "I think Hermione's concerns are warranted. Can you be more specific as to the whereabouts of the diadem?" Tom put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, pulling her closer to him, so as to stand united in their concern.

Once again, the eerie smile crept across the Grey Lady's face. Reaching her hand up, she pointed to a small table sitting next to the fireplace. "Look in the drawer and you will find your answer." Tom and Hermione both rushed over to the table, simultaneously grabbing the handle on the drawer. As the drawer opened quickly, Hermione's small hand reached in first to pull out a small scroll of ancient, yellowed parchment. Hermione's fingers trembled as she tried to unroll the scroll without dropping it.

As she opened the scroll Tom's head leaned over Hermione's shoulder, "The Gods are watching over us," Tom said triumphantly. "It's a map of the Pindus Mountains Forest. "Tom, look, there is even an X marking the spot where the tree can found!" she smiled. Tom's arms wound around Hermione's waist swinging her around and around in the air.

Hermione screamed, "I can't believe this!" Tom slid her down the front of his robes holding her tightly against him. Kissing her soundly, neither one wanted to stop, feeling so euphoric about this grand find.

The chortling in the room stopped their kiss, "I am so glad that this information pleases you greatly. I must take my leave of you." The Grey Lady motioned towards the door.

Tom grabbed Hermione's hand and they walked over to the beautifully tragic benefactor, and gave a deep bow to the ghost, "You have brought such valuable information to us this evening. We will forever be in your debt."

Hermione stepped forward with a smile and a curtsey, "We do owe you so much, dear Lady."

The Grey Lady shook her head, "The only thing you owe me is for you to be happy together. Do not end up like the Baron and I, haunting Hogwarts for the rest of our days."

Tom and Hermione looked into each other's eyes, and then slowly kissed. The Grey Lady floated away beaming; her secret now in the hands of Tom and Hermione.

When Tom and Hermione finally emerged, several hours later, from the Room of Requirement, they were tired, but satisfied. They meandered down to the Slytherin Common Room, walking in arm in arm; they stared at one another, lost in each other and what they had just experienced together. They stopped to kiss once again, close together as their hands roamed freely over each other.

They were startled out of their own little world by voices, "You two need to stop hurting our eyes," Radbourne said snickering, "You two seem awfully happy today."

"What have you been at already this morning?" Lucretia giggled as she snuggled up closely to Abraxas leaning her head on his shoulder. She knew that when she had woken up this morning Hermione had not been in her bed. Abraxas turned to Lucretia and started nibbling her lips and then pressing kisses down the side of her neck, then traveled up to press his lips gently to hers. They broke apart, smiling, as they leaned forward touching their heads.

"Oi, way too much loving for me to stomach," Alphard said making gagging sounds.

"Stop that, you arse," uttered Amanda, "you are sour because you have no one to love. "

"I don't need love," said Alphard, "I want power and to be in control. I am not going to appear to be some pussy whipped fool."

After Alphard spoke, Hermione noticed that Tom withdrew his arm from around her and the smile left his face. Tom looked ashamed and nervous after Alphard's statement. The words "power" and "control" seemed to have hit a nerve with Tom, more specifically with Lord Voldemort. Tom went and sat down, leaving Hermione standing there by herself by the common room door. He did not even look Hermione's way or motion for her to come and sit down by him. The quiet settled in and the atmosphere in the room took a chilling turn. Hermione, with a grim face, glanced once at Tom and hurried through the common room heading straight to her room.

All eyes were on Tom who was staring down at his neatly polished shoes.

"Bollocks, Alphard!" Lucretia shrieked, stood up and hit him in the arm, "You need to shut your blinking mouth!" Glaring at Alphard, Lucretia stormed off after Hermione. Amanda and Clarice then glared at all of the young men, who were not making eye contact with the remaining women in the room. Amanda cleared her throat, standing quickly, and smoothing down her school robes. With noses in the air, they followed Lucretia and went straight to Hermione and Lucretia's room.

"What did I say?" Alphard truly was confused about the impact of his words.

"Don't worry, mate," Casper said, "Men will never figure out women and their feelings; it's a hopeless cause."

"Gods!" screamed Tom loudly as he ran his fingers through his perfect hair mussing it up. No one said anything at all as Tom sat raging at himself at how he had messed things up, once again, with Hermione.

The knock on the door interrupted the consoling that was happening in the room. All eyes shot towards Hermione who shook her head, "No", at whether the door should be opened or not.

"I know that you women are all there with Hermione, but I must talk to her," his statement was met with total silence.

Lucretia mouthed to Hermione, "You know he won't go away." All three girls looked with trepidation towards the door.

"I don't wish to speak to him right now," Hermione whispered back. Clarice just rolled her eyes at the continued nonsense between Hermione and Tom.

"Just let him come in. You know he will get his way." Clarice hopped off of the bed. "Come Amanda, we are not needed here anymore." Clutching Amanda's hand she swung open the door, as Tom fell into the room having been leaning on the outer door.

"She is all yours, my Lord. " Clarice curtsied to Tom and swiftly walked away, with Amanda giving a fleeting curtsy running to catch up to Clarice's side.

As Tom stood up and looked towards the bed, Lucretia was next to Hermione with her arm around her. Hermione did not look up as Tom sat down softly on the bed. Tom leaned forward towards Hermione but was stopped by Lucretia's foot braced against his chest. Instant rage coursed through Tom as he stared at Lucretia. She had the audacity to try to prevent him from touching Hermione!

"She does not want to talk to you right now, Tom," Lucretia said boldly.

"Hermione, look at me; stop being a fussbudget," Tom shouted out exasperatedly.

"That is not helping, Tom," Lucretia patted Hermione's arm, who leaned against her with her eyes closed just listening.

Tom, hammering down his ever increasing ire, sat breathing heavily watching Hermione intently.

No other sounds were heard in the room until Hermione spoke, "It is fine, Lucretia, you can go." She squeezed Lucretia's hand and managed a weak smile. Hermione was giving in; she was too tired to keep fighting Tom.

Lucretia, ever Hermione's defender, glared at Tom. With pinched lips and a toss of her head, she left the room slamming the door on her way out.

Hermione sat very still, looking down at her hands. Tom sat by her side was not sure what to say to her."Hermione…what can I say? I fucked everything up again, as usual." Tom paused, waiting for a response from her. As he sat silently watching her, he noticed her red and swollen eyes. His heart gave a little twitch of regret. His eyes wandered down to the swell of Hermione's rounded belly. Under those robes his child was growing. He didn't know how to be everything that Hermione needed. Being Head Boy, Lord Voldemort, lover and future husband and father…could he do it all? For the first time in his life, he doubted himself and being able to accomplish all of his goals.

Lost in his thoughts, Tom did not notice Hermione searching his face. She could tell he was troubled by something, more than just her not speaking to him. Tom felt a small, soft hand caressing his face. He leaned into the gentle touch being offered by Hermione. He always garnered strength from the love this woman had to offer him.

"I need you, Hermione, in order to fulfill greatness in life. I know that I am an arse at times, but that doesn't mean I can do all of this without you." Tom ran his fingers lightly over Hermione's lips, and then replaced them with his lips, pressing tenderly. His large hands pulled her close and wandered down to stroke Hermione's pregnant belly. His touch was gentle, but caused shivering tingles to spread over her body. Falling back on the bed, Tom pressed his body into hers. Hermione's hands followed the lines of his muscular back and to his firm backside.

"You need to come with me," Tom managed to spurt out between kisses to the side of Hermione's neck and down her breastbone.

"Go where, Tom?" Hermione questioned as her hands slid underneath his shirt to touch his warm skin.

"We need to go to Albania to retrieve the diadem." Tom unbuttoned Hermione's robes and her blouse. His lips started sucking on her breast through the thin fabric of her cotton bra. Pregnancy was doing wonderful things to Hermione's breasts, swelling them greatly and he was most excited about this fact.

Hermione moaned as Tom slid her bra off and latched onto a round breast. He really knew how to distract her and he did it quite often. His tongue swirled around a hard peak, biting down gently; to only moisten it again with his tongue. Hermione tried to comprehend what Tom had just said to her, while enjoying what he was doing to her body. Tom slid off her skirt, loving to stare at the changes in her body as the pregnancy progressed. Great pride filled his soul, as he realized that this was his son growing inside of his woman; his seed he planted that would fulfill a prophecy. Tom kissed every inch of her growing stomach while taking her panties off. Thunderstruck once again, Tom could not believe that he had been granted a gift like Hermione in his life. He never would have believed that a woman would be this important to him, would give him so much. He laid kisses to her mound, parting her outer lips, to suck tenderly on her nub. Hermione bucked up into his mouth, and he did not let go and continued sucking. The soft little moans escaped her mouth as she felt the pressure mounting down below. "Oh Gods! You drive me absolutely mental when you do this!" Hermione clutched onto Tom's hair, pulling tightly as her heart beat faster and her breath quickened. Her face, neck and chest were flushed red as her clit swelled in Tom's mouth. The contractions overtook her body as her muscles rhythmatically pulsed in pleasure.

With a pleased look on his face, Tom unzipped his trousers to free his engorged cock. Sliding in to her awaiting channel Tom thrust in, not rushing, but taking his time to feel every sensation. Every time he re-entered her, his arousal spiraled higher and higher increasing the sexual tension. The delicious friction continued as Tom made love to Hermione. As the sexual ride ended, his extreme release shook his body, smiling down at Hermione. Kissing her as a thank you, they lay cuddling together catching their breath.

Suddenly, as Hermione's mind cleared, she pushed her hands against Tom's chest, pressing him off her. "You said that you want to take me to Albania?" The look of shock on Hermione's face made Tom laugh out loud.

With a grin, Tom said, "Of course I want to take you with me. The Grey Lady told us both about the diadem." Hermione still looked taken aback, "I can't leave you alone without you getting into trouble."

She smacked him on the arm, "That is not true. "And she actually grinned up at him.

Pulling her back into his arms, he kissed her again, "The truth of the matter is I am not going to leave you alone here with Dumbledore."

Hermione stopped to stare at him, "What do you mean, Tom?" What does Dumbledore want to do with me?" The look of horror crossing Hermione's face made him hesitate in telling her about the threat.

"He doesn't like us together, Hermione. He feels threatened by our combined power." The serious look on Tom's face was scaring her.

Hermione continued to question Tom, "I need to know if Dumbledore has threatened me, Tom?" The pleading look on her face was wearing him down.

Tom looked down at the bedspread, then up at his worried fiancé's face, "He was not happy to hear about the baby. "

Hermione sat up and started shaking, "Gods! He knows about the baby? How did he find out?" Her trembling hands went down to protectively cover the child growing inside of her.

"The night that Dumbledore followed you and Lucretia, he overheard you speaking about the baby. "

"Oh," Hermione groaned, "I put our baby in harm's way." The distraught look on Hermione's face and the tears falling from her eyes fueled the ever growing rage Tom felt against Dumbledore.

Giving her a big bear hug he rested his chin on her head. "He will not harm you or our child, love." Hermione sobbed in his arms wanting to feel safe and protected; yet still knowing that there was someone out there that wanted to injure her and her child. Rocking her and mumbling words of comfort to her, soon she fell asleep in his arms.

Once Tom knew Hermione was sound asleep, he sat up on the bed. Brushing her hair back from her face, he was glad to see her resting peacefully. A message needed to be sent to Dumbledore before they left for Albania. He wanted him to understand that he did not hold the upper hand in this "game" they were playing. Dumbledore would _not _win..Tom quietly left the bedroom as Lucretia snuck back in. Clasping her hands in his he whispered to her, "Thank you for being a good friend to Hermione. You are always very loyal to her and I will never forget that, Lucretia." He placed a kiss on the back of her hand and noticed the astonished look crossing her face. Swiftly she graced him with a warm smile and went into the room.

Tom felt happy and determined as he waltzed into his own room. Abraxas sat there studying, almost half asleep. "Are you in her good graces once again?"

"Yes, Malfoy, all is fine, but we have a mission to plan." Tom tossed his robes on his bed and flopped down on his stomach, his head in his arms. Complete concentration took over and Tom looked as if to be lost in a trance.

Abraxas stood up from his chair to stretch and yawned, "What mission would that be?"

Tom looked up wearily, "To prove once and for all to Dumbledore, that he is the mouse and I am the cat,"

Puzzled, Abraxas strained to comprehend what Tom had just said, "What is this about the cat and mouse?" It was 1:00 in the morning; he was too tired to figure out any riddles.

"I am going to hex the living hell out of that meddlesome old fool," Tom smacked his hands together, "and you, Mr. Malfoy, are going to help me do it… tonight."

Abraxas groaned and smacked his head down onto his desk. Looking at his bed with longing, he knew it was going to be a very long night.


	29. Chapter 29: The Dark Lords Move

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This chapter, sets up many things, that will affect the future for Hermione and Tom.

So lucky to have a beta as awesome as Nicole!!

* * *

TCAT Chapter 29: The Dark Lord's Move

"Tom, it is too late at night. I don't think now is the time to go and search Dumbledore's room." Abraxas lay on his bed, tired and grumpy. The last thing that he wanted to do was go on a suicide mission.

Annoyed, Tom made a growling sound, "We are not going to search his rooms with him still there," Tom looked at Abraxas like he was a dimwit. "A diversion will take him out of the room, and then we will go in and search." Tom shook his head in frustration, "Did you think I would be foolish enough to look through his things with him snoring in the same room?"

Abraxas bowed his head shamefully, "No, my Lord, I do not think that you are foolish…not at all."

Tom stood there glaring at Abraxas waiting for him to look up. Tom reached out and lifted Abraxas's chin, "Did you think I would put one of my most trusted followers in grave danger?" His touch was firm, but not harsh. "You need to have more faith in me, Malfoy, if you are to be a true servant of mine."

Abraxas dropped to his knees and grabbed Voldemort's hand pressing a kiss to his right hand. "I am your faithful servant, my Lord." He stayed on bended knees, head bowed, holding the hand of his Master.

"Stand…we need to summon the men of the Inner Circle, now." Withdrawing his wand from his sleeve, the Dark Lord pressed the wand on the Dark Mark branded on Abraxas Malfoy's arm. Cringing in pain, Abraxas gritted his teeth, not moving a muscle.

Swiftly the room was filled with eight more followers. They all dropped to their knees, heads bowed, dressed in black hooded robes. Lord Voldemort walked to the middle of the circle. "Arise, my most trusted of servants." He motioned with his arms and all of the men stood silently watching the Dark Lord. "You have been summoned this night for a most important mission." Not a sound was heard, nor a muscle moved as the Dark Lord spoke.

"It is time to show our enemy that we will not cower." Voldemort's hands fisted as he threw them up high in the air. All those present could feel the electric energy bouncing off of the Dark Lord. "We will confront Dumbledore, the great blood traitor."

He then locked eyes with each and every Death Eater in the room. He wanted to make sure that every one of them knew the seriousness of this mission. "Most of all, this doddering fool has threatened Hermione and my child growing inside of her." There were shocked looks on the faces of those who were not in the know concerning the pregnancy. "This is what we will be doing tonight…"

* * *

Hermione awoke with a start. She could feel the heat thrumming from her Eternal Flame tattoo. Looking around the room she saw Lucretia sleeping peacefully. She wondered when Tom had left the room. All that she remembered was falling asleep with Tom's arms securely around her. At times like this Hermione became very worried about where Tom was and what he was doing at the moment. Being the significant other of someone like Lord Voldemort, was going to mean many restless nights full of worry.

Hermione began to pace from one end of her bedroom and back to the door. Gods, what was he doing? The more she thought about Tom being in danger, the sicker she became. This was the father of her child she was worried about. What should she do? It would be easy enough to sneak out of her room with Lucretia sound asleep. The debate waged in her mind; she could seek out Tom and suffer his wrath. The other option would be to stay here, sick with worry and going crazy, waiting for him to return.

The explanation came to her mind quickly, it was Dumbledore. This had to be where Tom had wandered off to. She realized that day, when she had caught Tom and Dumbledore fighting in the Transfiguration classroom that it was just the beginning of many fights to occur in the future.

Hermione held her hand tightly staring down at the Eternal Flame tattoo. If she were in trouble he would come running to her aide. Why shouldn't she do the same for him?

Then the small fluttering she had been feeling for a week turned into a soft kick. Her hands quickly went to her stomach. "Baby, yes, you are there. What should I do little one?" The tiny little life inside of her gave another small kick. With tears in her eyes she dropped down to her knees and cried softly. As the tears streamed down her face, she sobbed quietly. The inner turmoil sat heavy on her soul. Where was her strength and courage that she had always been famous for? Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she stood and walked over to the desk to retrieve her wand. Sitting on the bed, Hermione sat and twirled the wand between her fingers. She felt the power that the wand had always given to her. In reality, Tom had taught her the power was inside waiting to explode out of her. She glanced at the doorway and then down at her wand again. Looking at the clock it was 12:45 a.m. She needed to make a move soon; it was time for a decision.

Rubbing her belly, the child kicked once again, "Your father should be here feeling this." The agony she felt could be seen on her face a mile away, "I just don't want to do the wrong thing." Hermione kept looking at her wand, while feeling her child kick inside of her.

* * *

Groups of Death Eaters were stationed around the floor where Dumbledore's' rooms were. A diversion was being set into place. All of the torches were doused and the entire floor went dark. They knew that this was the sign that the operation was starting. A major explosion sounded a quarter mile from Dumbledore's rooms. It shook him awake rolling him out of his bed. Grabbing his wand, he feared the school was under attack. Things had been heating up in the Wizarding World with Grindlewald attacking Muggleborns and purebloods alike. He would not put it past him to attack innocents at Hogwarts.

Running out of his chambers, the noxious fumes filled his lungs. He started coughing, gasping for air. Dumbledore fell into the wall noticing the hallway was completely dark. Hearing running at the far end of the hallway, he ran towards the sounds of retreating footsteps. As soon as he turned the corner he was struck in the chest with a stinging hex that threw him harshly against the wall. Pain radiated throughout his body as his body slumped down along the wall. Dumbledore fell to the floor as another curse was cast upon him. He could not move as his body was paralyzed.

The Death Eaters surrounded him, mocking him. "Look at the great Dumbledore now; he can't move a muscle." None of the voices were recognizable. "Where is your great power now?" Several wands shot off more curses at Dumbledore and they laughed as his body convulsed.

Albus tried hard to move, though things were not making much sense now. As one curse after the other was cast on his body, his world began to fade into darkness. How could this have happened to him?

* * *

Lord Voldemort and Abraxas Malfoy quietly entered Dumbledore's quarters. With no wards in place the search would be much easier this time. They knew the tie pin would not be in the dresser drawers. They had already searched them thoroughly the last time they had been in Dumbledore's rooms. The Dark Lord knew it would be foolish to just _Accio_ the tie pin into his hands, prior to the wards being down, which is why he had not tried it before. "Accio Gryffindor tie pin!" Lord Voldemort stretched out his hand to the universe and yelled out the command. Sailing through the air, like a snitch in a Quidditch match, came the Gryffindor tie pin. Abraxas stood there dumbstruck as he saw the tie pin sail from Dumbledore's mattress into the Dark Lord's hand.

"Bloody hell. The great wizard Dumbledore left without warding his rooms, making it that much easier for us to get the tie pin" Abraxas stared at him with his mouth hanging open. "I guess that our work is done tonight," Lord Voldemort said matter of factly. He tucked the tie pin into his white shirt pocket. "Shall we go see what kind of mischief my Death Eaters have gotten into with the great and powerful Dumbledore? I am sure that they have been enjoying themselves this night."

They left Dumbledore's chambers heading down the dark hallway. They could not see Dumbledore as they came to the circle of Death Eaters. They were still laughing and mocking their captive. "See the old fool? He is still knocked out cold from about thirty curses. You know the Cruciatus curse works very well, even against him." The circle of men chuckled again. Another Death Eater spoke up, "We caught him unaware. He fell and was immobilized instantly. Bugger it all, he really didn't even stand a chance." The humorous snickering continued.

"Men, I am pleased with your work this night. " Lord Voldemort actually smiled at his Death Eaters. A loud groan came from Dumbledore's prone figure. "It is time to return to our own quarters. I feel like I am quite fatigued, how about all of you?" He gestured to them and received more smiles from his devoted followers.

"Lord Voldemort, what should we do with the Professor?" One Death Eater nudged at Dumbledore's still limp body with the tip of his boot.

"Leave him be, " Lord Voldemort said with a snigger, "He will wake…eventually." The Dark Lord also gave a solid kick to Dumbledore's ribs, feeling great satisfaction as he abused the meddlesome fool. They all had one more good laugh, as they sauntered off down the hallway, feeling quite pleased with themselves.

None of them had realized that indeed Professor Dumbledore was starting to wake up. He felt the paralysis leaving his body. Who had done this to him? Who was this Lord Voldemort? How had he gotten into Hogwarts? Why had he and his men attacked him? Did Grindlewald send them to assault him in his own domain?

In the dark void that he had been coming out of, there had been one voice that had sounded very familiar to him. He wished that he could place it, but nothing came to his mind. He would find out who had done this to him and he would get his revenge on them. No one did this to Albus Dumbledore and lived to talk about it. Never again would he be caught unaware and be assaulted by cowards. They had not been brave enough to fight in the light, nor fight one-on-one.

As he pulled himself to an upright position, he groaned as every muscle in his body ached. He sunk back down, lying on the floor. He would need more rest to garner enough strength to return to his chambers. In the meantime, he would lay there and think about the mystery surrounding the familiar voice. This was one puzzle that he would unravel.

* * *

Feeling very triumphant, Lord Voldemort led his joyous men back to the Slytherin dungeons. As the Dark Lord headed the entourage of smug Slytherins back to their quarters, they did not notice the woman unobtrusively waiting in the shadows.

From out of the darkness a female voice called out, "Tom, where were you?" A small body ran full force into the Dark Lord, throwing her arms around him tightly. "Oh Gods, I was so worried about you." Abraxas thought The Dark Lord would be embarrassed to be assaulted by Hermione with her feminine worries. Taking no chances to upset her, Tom hugged her back with the same intensity that she was embracing him.

"Malfoy, please lead the Death Eaters the rest of the way back to the dungeons. I need to spend some time with Hermione. " Abraxas saw the affection, written on Tom's face, for his woman. A year ago he never would have believed that this harsh man would ever develop feelings for anyone; especially this woman.

"Come along, mates, the Dark Lord needs his privacy." Abraxas gave a nod and a grin and he met Tom's eyes. Tom mouthed a "thank you" to him as he turned to go. Then Abraxas quickly and quietly led the Inner Circle down the corridor.

Tom looked down at Hermione, "You know, I should be quite angry with you." Hermione could tell from the tone of his voice that he really wasn't annoyed at her actions. In fact, there was somewhat of a teasing tone coming from Tom. "Just know, I am not angry at you at all; not in the least."

Hermione shyly peaked up at him, "I was so worried about you my love. My Eternal Flame Tattoo was burning." Hermione spoke so frantically that Tom had to suppress a smile at her overt concern. "The tattoo was hot that it woke me up. That is when I realized you were gone and I soon figured out where you probably had gone."

She stopped and took a nice, long breath. Tom studied her face as she related her experience of missing him. It still boggled his mind that she had come into his life. She had fulfilled the prophecy that he had read about for many years. Now she was carrying his child, that when born, would also fulfill another part of that same prophecy.

"I just knew that you were in trouble and that I didn't want to leave you alone. I knew if it were me in trouble you would come after me." His hands swept up into her tousled curls, still disheveled from her earlier sleep. "Oh, Tom, was it Dumbledore you were after tonight?"

Tom pulled her closer to him and hugged her tightly. "You needn't concern yourself over this, Hermione. As you can see I am perfectly fine." Tom suddenly jumped back in surprise, "What was that I felt?"

"Tom," Hermione giggled with delight, "That is our baby. Can you feel him?" She moved his hand directly over the spot where the baby had kicked. "Here, leave your hand here for a moment." A few seconds went by, when soon, the child within gave a swift kick to Tom's hand.

"Brill, that was really our child? That was one of the most amazing things I have ever felt." Tom could not recall when he had been this excited about something.

Hermione was delighted that he was as thrilled about the baby's kicking as she had been. She saw the joy in Tom's eyes at the movement of their small child not even born.

"I need to get you and our son, back to your room to rest." Tom leaned down to caress her lips with his. Hermione leaned in to the kiss wrapping her arms around Tom's neck. It felt good to feel him close to her after all of the worry this night had brought. For now, he was safe, and that is all that mattered.

* * *

Thanks to all of my many readers and reviewers. You make it so much fun to write this for you!


	30. Chapter 30: Regret

_TCAT Chapter 30: Regret_

Tom sat in the corner of the library mapping out the trip to Albania. He knew if he was taking Hermione with him, that the plans needed to be detailed and fully thought out. He was still concerned about truly finding the diadem, even with the map that had been provided by The Grey Lady. He also had many concerns about tromping through the Albanian forests with a pregnant Hermione. Tom's worries would have been greater though, if he had to leave her here where she would be at the mercy of Albus Dumbledore. It had been a week since he had recovered the Gryffindor tie pin from Dumbledore's chamber; so far they had not seen any sign of trouble from Dumbledore.

"What are you thinking about? You are so lost in your thoughts you didn't even hear me come up behind you." Hermione kissed him and then sat down next to him. She subconsciously rubbed her round belly as she smiled at him."It must be something important if I was able to sneak up on you, Tom Riddle." Her words were said with a bit of teasing attached.

"I was thinking about you, my beautiful, sassy woman!" he leaned over to tickle her. "I was also thinking about the old fool that we bested last week. " Hermione's eyes narrowed as she listened to Tom.

"We shouldn't be talking about that openly. Who knows who could be lurking about and overhear us. "Hermione seemed to be on the cautious side since she found out she was pregnant again. "I am worried that it is not over yet. "

"What is not over yet?" Tom looked at her, "He had no idea who any of us were." Tom seemed a little irritated at Hermione even questioning him. His irritation quickly disappeared as he noticed the loose fitting shirt Hermione was wearing. When she bent forward he could look straight down her shirt and see her rose serpent tattoo on her chest. Tom leaned into Hermione and started kissing her tattoo.

Hermione tried to push him away, "Not in the library, Tom, people are staring." She looked around sensing other eyes gawking at the two of them.

"I can't help myself, Hermione. The rose has grown so much since you have been pregnant. It just draws me to your chest." He gave a wicked grin while she pushed his head up where it belonged.

"What is that list you are writing?" Hermione leaned over Tom's shoulder trying to peek at what was written on the page. "Why are you hiding it from me?" He tried pushing her back and she kept persisting trying to duck under his arm now.

"Stop, Hermione, I will show you." Tom took his hands off the paper and turned it over, so she could view it.

"Oh, Tom, we really are going to go to Albania?" Hermione exclaimed loudly in excitement.

"Quiet, woman, no one can know what we are planning. " Tom gave her a reprimand. "There will be only a few chosen people that will know of our destination." Hermione started sulking in her chair. "Don't act like a child, Hermione."

"You can quit being a bully, you know." Hermione muttered next to him.

"You know that is who I am, my love, and I will never change." Tom stood up sweeping his papers into his book bag. "It's time to get over it and embrace the tyrant I enjoy being." He kissed her forehead and strutted out of the library.

"What a pompous ass. " The baby kicked Hermione, hard, taking her breath away, "Well, he really is, little one. You better not grow up to be overbearing like your father. He is so arrogant, and I am sick that I really love it at times." Hermione sighed, picking up her bag, and lumbered off to her next class.

* * *

Looking out at every one of his Transfiguration students had turned into a game for Albus Dumbledore. One or more of them were responsible for his attack a week ago. No one outside of Hogwarts could have been to blame for the attack. He had checked carefully on the security of Hogwarts that night and the protection around them had not been breached. So it was up to him to figure out who had planned and carried out the attack.

"Just act normal and he will suspect nothing, Hermione," Tom whispered into her ear. "When you act nervous you look guilty. You will end up implicating all of us." Hermione tried very hard not to fidget, but Dumbledore's piercing gaze made her very anxious.

"Mr. Riddle, would you like to share with everyone what is so important that you must talk while I am teaching." Dumbledore had put Tom Riddle at the top of his suspects list. He was egotistical enough to attack one of his professors and think that he could get away with it.

"No, sir, I was just whispering poetry into the ear of my lovely lady," The entire class laughed at his explanation. Hermione blushed despite herself, knowing that was not what they had been discussing. Dumbledore's eyes narrowed at Tom's response. The battle between them was continually growing.

"I think the both of you can save your romantic interludes until after class. That will be 50 points from Slytherin…for each of you." Hermione groaned hating the unfairness of it all. It was like being in Snape's Potions class when he took points away from her for just being Harry's friend. Now she was being punished for being Tom Riddle's fiancée. She would never get a break and she hating losing points for her house, even if it was Slytherin House.

Dumbledore kept throwing questions out to the class. His goal was to have every male in the class answer at least one question so he could listen carefully to their voice. He could vaguely remember the men standing above him as he was coming out of his stupor. He had to find out who had set up the attack on him. He still hurt from being cursed consecutively for thirty minutes straight. Even though he was a professor at this school, he would not hold back in his retribution to whoever had assaulted him. It had not only had been an act of deception, but a cowardly act of violence one man against many. No, he would figure this out and then Merlin help the man who chose to strike at Albus Dumbledore.

* * *

"We must go consult with her before our journey."

"I don't like her. What does she have to do with us going to Albania?" Hermione sat on her bed feeling very grumpy at Tom. "Why don't you just go and talk to her by yourself. She does like you better anyhow."

"Hermione, you are as involved with Flamina as I am." Tom stopped in front of the bed to look her in the eyes, "She will be offended if I summon her and you are not there as well."

"I have nothing to say to her...that's all." Hermione knew the real reasons why she didn't want to talk to Flamina and she did not wish to share them with Tom. In fact, Flamina had not wanted Tom to know about her new powers that she had gifted to Hermione. The truth was, she was scared about using the new powers. Flamina had ordered her to only use the new powers to further Lord Voldemort's work. Ever since she had gotten pregnant again, she had not done much with the powers. She was worried that Flamina would chastise her for sitting on her laurels and not helping Lord Voldemort in furthering his work of domination. The only thing important to Hermione at the moment was taking care of her body and getting her baby here healthy and strong…and safe.

"Hermione, did you hear what I said? You look like you are lost in another world." Hermione looked up at Tom not having a clue what he had been saying. "Ever since you have been pregnant you have not been the same, Hermione."

"You try growing a new life inside of your body! It messes with how you feel, emotionally and physically. I can't think as smartly as I used to." She glared at Tom. "This is your child after all; you should be more supportive of me."

Tom held his tongue. Even though he felt that Hermione was acting childish, he would never bring it up to her. She was so sensitive these days and maybe it was the growing child inside of her that was making her a bit temperamental. "It's time for class now, but we will talk about this later tonight. Spring break is coming soon and that is when we will be leaving for Albania."

"Tom, how are we going to be able to leave school without giving a good explanation? Neither one of us has family that we would be going to visit over the break."

"That is where Malfoy is going to help. He is going to be the only one to know where we will really be going. We will leave Hogwarts under the guise of visiting Malfoy Manor over the break." This produced a smile from Hermione. "Once we are at Malfoy Manor, we will leave to journey to Albania and recover the diadem."

"It sounds so easy when you explain it, Tom." Hermione grinned up at Tom.

"Well, love, that is because I am Lord Voldemort. Everything I plan is genius and always works to perfection." Tom leaned down, kissed Hermione gently, grabbed his book bag and sauntered out the door.

"Gods, I am so glad that he likes himself. It would be a shame if he ever doubted his own abilities. He can be such a snob at times." Hermione climbed off of the bed, "Come on, baby, or we will be late for class. You can see how your father waited for us. " She sighed and hurried as quickly as she could, still not convinced Tom's plan would work.

* * *

Hermione sat dozing on the sofa in the Slytherin common room. Tom and Abraxas had been playing an intense round of wizarding chess for the last two hours. Lucretia had gone off to bed early with a headache. Clarice and Radbourne had secretly gone to spend some time, alone together. Alphard and Casper were off chasing down girls out on the grounds.

"Abraxas, have you decided if you will be helping us over Spring Break?" Abraxas made his next move in the game and then looked up at Tom.

"Yes, Tom, I have consulted with father and he is at your bidding in all things." Hermione woke up wanting to hear more of the plans that directly would involve her. "You have an invitation to journey to Malfoy manor over Spring Break." Abraxas looked over to Hermione and winked. Hermione blushed at receiving Abraxas's attention. Tom only raised an eyebrow, showing a small bit of annoyance at his best mate.

"We are going to be…somewhere in the castle for a few hours. " Tom looked down at his feet for a moment, "please try to divert others from knowing of our absence."

"Where are you going?" Abraxas asked curiously, "I do not want to accidently send someone somewhere I should not."

Tom laughed and replied, "I do not think that anyone will be wandering where we are going. In fact, no one knows how to get there." Tom was trying hard to avoid making eye contact with Abraxas. Hermione glanced over at Abraxas and quickly averted her eyes, looking at her nails instead. Abraxas sensed that Tom and Hermione were hiding something from the way that they were evading his gaze.

Looking from one to the other, it finally came to him, "You are going to see her." Tom's head jerked up to meet Abraxas's accusing stare. "You and Hermione are going to visit Flamina in the Chamber of Secrets." Tom's grim look confirmed his guess.

"Yes, Malfoy, and because we are going to the Chamber of Secrets, our visit must remain a secret. "

Hermione, sensing the angry mood Tom was in, stepped back to let the two men discuss Flamina.

"What do you need with her again, my Lord?"

"That's what I said." Hermione let her thoughts slip out openly. They were welcomed with a dark look by Tom.

"See, even your mate doesn't want to meet with her. Why put yourself through another Flamina encounter?"

"I do not need to explain my plans to you, nor to Hermione." It looked like Tom could not decide who he was angrier with, Abraxas or Hermione.

Abraxas felt that he had pushed Lord Voldemort enough for one night. "I will do as you bid, my Lord. I will keep secret your destination for this evening." With a nod of his head, he smiled at Hermione and he left the room.

Hermione stepped forward and placed her hand on Tom's arm, only to have him brusquely shake it off. "Tom, I am sorry…"

Hermione jumped back when Tom suddenly turned and shouted at her, "Where is your loyalty? You do not ever disagree with me in front of one of my followers." Hermione could feel the baby jumping around inside of her as Tom was berating her. "You need to learn your place in the Dark Lord's circle; you sit, you listen and you support me." The sweat was dripping from his face as he was shaking his fists in the air. Hermione was truly afraid of him when he was like this. She had not meant to go against him; she was just worried about meeting with Flamina again in her current condition.

"Yes, Tom…my Lord, I will remember." Hermione answered with a tremble in her voice, shrinking against the wall.

Tom wanted to say one more thing to her, but he just stared angrily at her,"Oh, why do you always make me so angry!" Hermione stood shaking by the wall, not daring to look at him. Her arms were protectively wrapped around her baby.

"Be ready in thirty minutes to go down to the chamber." Tom strutted over to her and fiercely grabbed her face, "Do not say a word to anyone about where we are going." Hermione flicked her head away from his grip and turned away.

"I will be ready. You will have no need to worry about anyone or anything." Hermione quickly left to calm down in her dorm room. She tried to soothe herself by breathing slowly. If she could have run back to her time, now would have been the moment. This was one of those instances when she knew she was in over her head. How would she ever be able to handle the older Lord Voldemort if she couldn't even handle the Tom Riddle from 1945?

Sitting on the bed, she felt her world spinning out of control. She needed her old friends right now. Harry and Ron would have known how to comfort her. She hadn't thought of them for awhile now. An overwhelming feeling of guilt and shame stung her sharply in her soul. Harry would never forgive her for sleeping with his greatest enemy. What would he think of her getting pregnant by him? Gods, Dumbledore had been right and that fact alone made her want to vomit. He had told her she was involved in something she couldn't handle, but she had dismissed his concerns. It was too late now and there was nothing to do but finish her mission of why she had traveled back through time. The circumstances had changed, but she still could try her best to change history.

Wiping the tears from her face, she cleared her throat and went off to use the loo. Being stuck in the Chamber of Secrets and needing to relieve herself would not be a good scenario. Tom would be here any moment and she did not want to give him another reason to yell at her. Merlin help her tonight as she faced Flamina. She would need all of the help she could get.

_After seeing Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince three times, I still think of My Tom Riddle as the one seen in Chamber of Secrets, played by _Christian Coulson._ I really did not like the actor that played the older Tom Riddle in the scene with Slughorn. He looked like a little kid, not a man. JMHO_

_Another chapter is written and will be on it's way soon. Please let me know what you think. i always like to hear from the readers. _


	31. Chapter 31: The Flames of Hell

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_Thanks so much to my great beta Nicole. I also want to thank all of you wonderful readers! You leave such awesome reviews. Keep it up because I love to know what you think about the story. The more I know the better it helps me with my writing. _

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TCAT Chapter 31: The Flames of Hell

It was smelly and cold as once again Tom and Hermione entered the Chamber of Secrets. Neither one had spoken a word as they had journeyed to the chamber. Tom had walked ahead of Hermione the whole way there. Now there was one more reason to be sick to her stomach on top of everything else. Having to meet Flamina once again and Tom being angry with her did not help the situation. She had not meant to vocalize her thoughts to Abraxas; the words had just slipped out.

Tom walked quickly leaving a pregnant Hermione in his wake, and she realized that now was not the time to have a heart-to heart with the Dark Lord. Hermione spotted the basilisk skin lying along the side of the pathway. It still made her skin crawl to recall how a twelve year old Harry had fought and killed the enormous basilisk.

When they came to the heart of the chamber, Tom came to an abrupt stop. He ripped his school robes off and next went to the crisp, white shirt. He kicked his shoes off and stripped off his socks and sauntered over to the altar. Kneeling down, he looked over at Hermione with irritation, "Well, disrobe and kneel here alongside me, as I summon Flamina. "

Hermione just stared back at him with a distasteful look. Sending a menacing glare back to her, Hermione quickly struggled out of her robes. Her hands were shaking as she shrugged her robes off. "I am not taking off my shirt, so don't even ask!" Tom just shook his head at Hermione's disrespect. Tom's eyes darted down to Hermione's feet. He nodded his head in the direction of her feet. Hermione had forgotten to take off her shoes. Kicking off her heels, she hurried and dropped down next to Tom. It was more painful kneeling at the altar this time.

Tom reached up into the air, "Oh mighty Flamina, I am your humble servant." Hermione jumped next to him, while she felt the child inside of her jumping also. "We are here to graciously ask for your guidance before we set out on our quest. " Hermione looked down at the altar with an occasional glance at Tom. "Please heed our summons." Tom almost looked frantic as there was no sign of the Goddess Flamina yet." The sweat was trickling down his brow and falling into his eyes. Tom searched around the chamber for any sign of Flamina.

Hermione heard Tom muttering, "I wonder what is wrong. Why is she not appearing to us?" Tom then snootily looked over at Hermione, who had her head bent down. She knew what he was thinking, that it was her fault Flamina was not showing herself to them. As the silence in the chamber grew stronger, a high tinkling laugh broke the stillness. Both Tom and Hermione looked up to see Flamina walking towards them in a shower of silver. As usual, she was so beautiful and striking that she took your breath away. As she swayed her hips and strolled towards them, Tom's mouth hung open. Once again Hermione's jealously rose uncontrollably high. She just knew that Flamina derived great satisfaction in making Tom baffled and Hermione enraged.

"Well, well, if it isn't the happy couple. How is paradise, my pets?" Hermione became even more irate as Flamina talked down to them. She walked towards Hermione then reached out and patted her pregnant belly. "It's a shame what having children does to your figure." Flamina batted her eyelashes at Hermione and smiled towards Tom. "I would not know though, I have never had a child. That is why my figure is still unblemished." She ran her hands down her breasts, to her waist and over her hips. Ton's eyes were glued to her every move and curve. Hermione could feel her blood pressure rising. She had to bite her lip so hard so her true feelings would not tumble out. Soon, Hermione tasted blood coming from where her teeth had sunk into her lips. Tom, being distracted by Flamina's show, didn't even notice the angst his fiancé' was going through.

"Why are you summoning me here tonight, Tom Riddle?" She walked right up to him where they were almost nose to nose. "This must be a matter of extreme importance." Flamina's hands traveled up Tom's arms to land around his neck. Her fingers lightly tickled down his cheek with her long, blood-red fingernails. Tom stood frozen staring into Flamina's eyes, mesmerized by her very presence.

"Albania, Tom, remember?" That is why we are here in this stinky chamber tonight," Hermione's loud voice woke up Tom from his "Flamina" daze. Flamina slowly turned towards Hermione and smirked at her.

"Yes, we are traveling to Albania to retrieve another key in helping me gain my ultimate power and control." Tom puffed out his chest as if to impress Flamina with his greatness.

A smile spread across Flamina's face. "How did you come by this droplet of knowledge?"

"The Grey Lady, a ghost here at Hogwarts, contacted us and relayed the information." Tom was eager to share about their success.

Flamina's face showed her great surprise, "Really? She then told both of you this information?"

"Yes, she told both of us." Hermione made sure to emphasize the "both" in her statement. She was getting tired of the way Flamina was treating her.

Flamina turned towards Hermione hearing the challenge in her voice."How dare you speak to me that way?" Flamina's normal jovial manner suddenly turned black and sour. "You spoiled little witch, you have not lived up to the bargain that you made with me." Tom was dumbstruck by the knowledge that Hermione and Flamina had made some kind of a deal. Flamina swirled around with anger and raised her arms high up into the air. The light left the chamber as the torches were extinguished. Before Hermione could scream in fright, a wall of fire encircled her lighting up the room. Hermione could feel the heat as it rotated around her. This fire was vastly different from the Eternal Flame that had previously. encircled Tom and Hermione. Tom ran up to the wall of flames, but was thrown back by an unseen force. He landed roughly on his back, the breath being knocked out of him.

Flamina laughed as she swayed towards Hermione in her miniature, blazing prison. "So, Miss Hermione, do you really think that you can challenge me? Did you really think that I wouldn't know of your actions?" Flamina walked around the sphere of fire as she berated Hermione. "Or should I say, your lack of action?" Standing nearby, Tom looked thoroughly confused at the mention of the deal made between the two women. This was frustrating to him that he had been left out in the cold.

Hermione was frightened as the ring of fire grew smaller and smaller. Her greatest fears were coming to pass. She had always known that the day would come when she would have to account for breaking her part of the agreement with Flamina. "Please, Flamina, "she shouted as loud as she could with the flames searing her with intense heat. She knew moment that she would go up into flames. "Tell me what I need to do. Please, for the sake of my child, give me another chance." The desperation in her voice could not only be heard, but felt by Tom. He had heard many people pleading for something and knew that Hermione was past negotiating and was now begging. With the temperature rising, Hermione was distressed about what the heat was doing to her baby.

Tom sprinted over to Flamina and spun her around to face him, "Dear Flamina, please kill the flames surrounding Hermione, "Flamina gazed at Tom with a defiant stare, "Hermione is pregnant with my child." Tom licked his lips as he glimpsed at Hermione slumping down with her arms around her protruding stomach. Tom once again glowered at Flamina, "Why are you endangering Lord Voldemort's child?" Hermione looked up at Tom in disbelief at his boldness. At that moment, it was not Tom speaking, but the majestic Dark Lord.

Flamina scrutinized Tom looking him square in the eye. Unexpectedly, laughter came bubbling out of Flamina, the loud hysterical sounds echoed throughout the chamber. This was what she lived for; power over lowly human beings, and she was more than delighted to have Hermione and Tom at her mercy.

Tom was dumbfounded at the merriment Flamina was deriving from torturing Hermione and his child. Here was someone more twisted than him. His thoughts were broken from the screams coming from Hermione. The flames were now lapping against Hermione's sides.

"It burns, Tom; it hurts." Hermione clutched at her arms twisting and turning in great panic. How had this mission to ask for blessings for a successful expedition, to retrieve the diadem, turned into a death sentence for Hermione? The panic was starting to suffocate Tom, as the tormented shrieks continued to ensue from Hermione.

Tom grabbed Flamina by the shoulders and started shaking her, "Release her now!" Tom bellowed to Flamina. As Flamina's head flopped back and forth Tom didn't give a damn what she did to him. His fear for Hermione outweighed anything that Flamina could do to him in retribution.

Flamina, startled somewhat by Tom's bravado in Hermione's behalf, smirked, and then flicked her hand towards Hermione. "Let it be done," she said quietly. The flames died down and Hermione fell over on her side, hitting the ground hard.

Tom dashed to Hermione gathering her into his arms. Her skin was red and blistered. "Hermione, love, can you hear me?" She had passed out near the end anticipating the death of her and the child. Tom bent down to softly kiss her sweat stained brow. He then moved his hand to the swell of her belly and willed the child to move. The baby within, as if reading it's father's mind, gave a swift kick where Tom's hand lay. Tears came to Tom's eyes as he gave a great shuddering breath. He leaned over to where the child was still moving and kissed Hermione's womb. Tom had never felt such relief in his whole life. The protectiveness he felt for this child had grown exponentially in the last hour. Hermione started stirring as she felt Tom leaning against her. Looking up she observed Tom crying and rubbing her stomach.

"He is fine, Hermione. He moved when I told him to." Hermione almost laughed aloud. It was just like Tom to think that the child would already respond to his commands. The baby had been very active since entering the chamber. Hermione was not going to spoil the moment of bonding that was taking place between a father and his child. There had been little of this occurring, since she had gotten pregnant, and it was about time for it to start.

"This is all very touching, my pets, but I am a busy Goddess and have more important things to do," Flamina sighed in a bored voice.

Tom rose with a growl, "You almost killed my future wife and child!" he advanced on Flamina with eyes blazing in a fury.

Flamina was ready for him, "You are the one who summoned me here. I am the one with all the power. Any power that you have is because of me." She thumped Tom on the chest, "It would be best for you to remember that!" Tom stood there breathing heavily, not letting any more words escape him in exasperation. Hermione could see Tom clenching his jaw muscles and knew how hard it was for him to keep his mouth shut. She dared not move either, for fear of increasing Flamina's wrath against her again.

Disgusted with everything that had occurred this evening, Flamina made to leave the chamber. She turned back to Tom, "Lord Voldemort, I will overlook your disrespect towards me tonight. You have proven to me over and over again that you command your power diligently over others. "She smiled saucily,"Your mistake tonight was thinking that power extended over me." She marched back over to Tom, "That will never happen again or I will not be so forgiving."

Flamina strutted over to where Hermione still lay, "As for you, I am not so forgiving. You are just lucky you have a man like Lord Voldemort to watch over you, or you would be cinders at this point. Remember what you promised, we have an agreement. I expect you to uphold this deal. Do not use this baby as an excuse to overlook our arrangement." Before Hermione could react, Flamina stood and walked away, "Absisto," she winked at Tom then shouted, "Sursum Versus" and she went flying up into the top of the chamber and disappeared.

.

Tom went to Hermione and she groaned in agony. "We need to get you to the hospital wing." Tom scooped up Hermione in his arms and kissed her gently on the brow. He could see that the ends of her curly hair had been singed.

Hermione laid her head against Tom's chest, resting her palm over his heart. "Thank you for rescuing me…again." She weakly smiled up at him. "But, I told you it wasn't a good idea to come and summon Flamina yet again." Tom tried to bite back a belittling remark and just raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head. He would not be angry right now. Tom was just grateful they both had made it out of the chamber alive.

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Next chapter: Off to Albania our two lovers go.

_Absisto: I am going away_

_Sursum Versus: To go upwards_


	32. Chapter 32: Relax

_This chapter, is for some of my wonderful reviewers, that sent me messages asking for some loving for our couple! Enjoy! _

TCAT Chapter 32: Relax

Tom and Hermione were relaxing for a day before they took a Portkey to Albania. Hermione was very nervous about going to a foreign country that had so much unrest going on. Most wizards and witches had gone underground in hiding. With the communist rule in Albania, they would need to watch carefully what they did and where they did things. Their main mission would be to journey into the Albania forest, retrieve Ravenclaw's Diadem and leave for Britain immediately.

Tom of course was wishing that he had never promised Hermione that he would take her with him. He realized now, that he could have left her at Malfoy Manor and taken Abraxas with him instead. There was no way now that Hermione would ever allow this to happen. Now, the journey was going to be more treacherous, having to take care of Hermione and searching for the diadem.

"This is so lovely", Hermione was lying on a chaise lounge out in the back patio. She was sipping a sweet drink and enjoying the sunshine beating down on her face. She looked very beautiful in a long white Victorian robe. Her long, full hair was blowing in the spring breeze. Tom was entranced watching her relax with no worries.

"Wouldn't this be a nice thing to do every day?" Tom casually asked her. "You could just lie here and enjoy the peace and sunshine."

There was no response from Hermione. Tom decided to continue with his persuasive words. "This is so good for you and the baby. No danger, no homework and no worries."

Hermione opened her eyes and looked over at Tom with a frown, "I am not changing my mind about coming with you to Albania. You might as well quit trying to persuade me to stay here."

Tom acted offended, "That is not what I was trying to do. I just like to see you happy… and not upset." Hermione laughed at Tom trying to get out of the situation.

"I am going with you. No fancy words of flattery will change my mind. "She looked sternly at Tom. "My place is with you and that is where I will stay."

Tom felt many emotions at her words. He had never had a friend, let alone a lover, who was this dedicated to him and his goals. Hermione was now the biggest and best part of his world. This was why he had at least tried to change her mind about traveling with him.

Tom walked over to Hermione. He held his hand out to her and helped her up from the chaise lounge, "Come my love, we need to go finish our light packing for our journey. " He pulled her in as close as he could. These days it was harder to stand close, as her pregnant belly seemed to grow bigger and bigger every day. Putting his fingers under her chin he lifted her face up to look into his eyes, "You mean so much to me. You do realize this don't you?"

Hermione's heart swelled with love. Would he finally profess his love for her? This, she knew would be a miracle in itself. According to the stories she had always heard about Lord Voldemort, is that he had never loved anyone or anything. If he truly loved her, then she would have accomplished something amazing during her time here in the past.

"I know Tom. You are so important to me and this baby." She patted her stomach and then placed his hands on top of the baby. The baby in turn kicked back, as if to tell its parents, he liked what he was hearing. The baby, kicking so swiftly, made both of them smile.

"In two months our son will be born." Tom's eyes lit up with excitement. He felt very proud that another part of the prophecy would be fulfilled at his son's birth. Everything was going according to his plans. Soon he would be away from Hogwarts and Dumbledore. He and his followers would be free to continue their strategy of making the Wizarding World a glorious place to live, for Purebloods that is.

Abraxas stepped out, truly hating to interrupt Hermione and Tom. It was so good to see both getting along so well. With the stress of Hogwarts and Dumbledore far away, he had seen a dramatic change in the Dark Lord and his woman.

"Excuse me, but I believe that dinner will be served soon. Is anyone hungry here?"

"I am very hungry and so is the baby." Hermione was so enthusiastic about eating, that Tom and Abraxas could not hold back their laughter.

Tom moved aside, "Lead the way my Lady, there is a buffet awaiting your hunger and our son's awesome appetite." He patted her bum as she walked past him. Hermione squealed in delight and scurried away from him giggling.

"Did you have any luck?" Abraxas inquired of Tom, knowing what he had wanted to try and carry out this afternoon.

Tom shook his head, "No, she is as stubborn and persistent as she always has been. Come hell or high water, she is coming with me to Albania"

"All I can say, is good luck my friend. You are going to need it." Abraxas smirked at Tom, while Tom just nodded his head knowing that he had spoken the truth. His hands were going to be very full on this mission.

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That night, Tom and Hermione lay cuddled up together on the huge King size bed. Hermione's head rested atop Tom's chest. She was tracing patterns around his chest. She leaned over and licked one of his nipples. Tom sucked in his breath. Hermione seemed to be so randy, even at this late stage in her pregnancy. Her hand started traveling down to his stomach and circled around his belly button. She continued to suck on the nipple and let her hand travel even farther south until she brushed up against his obvious erection. She lightly trailed her fingers up and down his huge length. Tom groaned at what her touches were doing to him. Her fingers circled around the slit that was already leaking the pre-cum. With the liquid, she smoothed her fingers up and down his cock; soon, Tom was bucking into her hand.

Hermione had a huge smile on her face. She loved when she had this kind of control over the Dark Lord. This was probably the only time she had this much power over him. He moaned loudly in the darkness.

"Oh, I want you." Tom sat up and pulled Hermione's nightgown over her head and threw it on the floor. His eyes traveled over her large breasts, with the dark areolas and nipples jutting out towards him. Then he looked at her belly, extended with her belly button poking out. Then his eyes found the prize, the dark curls that held the place of pleasure for him and Hermione.

Hermione knew what she needed to do. She got up on her hands and knees and turned away from Tom. A growl came from him as he looked at her plump behind. The sound made her so wet, as she knew soon he would be filling her with his full cock. She wiggled her bum at him, and he reached out and pulled her to him. She fell down on her elbows with her ass in the air. It felt so provocative, lying in this position, waiting for Tom to impale her.

Tom first reached between her legs and felt the damp curls. Then his fingers slid between the wet lips to find her swollen nub. He circled around and around the nub as Hermione gave sounds of great delight at his ministrations. She started rocking back and forth as he rubbed over her nub and down to her wet opening. He was throbbing and wanting to plunge in, but he wanted to bring Hermione almost to her peak first.

"Faster Tom, please!" Hermione cried out as she continued trying to help Tom as she rubbed against his fingers.

"Grrr..," Tom finally had enough of the foreplay. He held her hips still and brought his length to her dripping opening. He pushed in full force and Hermione cried out,"Oh Gods! That feels so good. "

Tom was so aroused, as he watched his cock fucking Hermione. Every time he would plunge in and then out, he heard Hermione muttering some nonsense words. It felt so good to know that this woman was his to do with, as he wanted. He had fucked many women in his young years, but nothing could compare to the times when he would take Hermione. There was a different feeling when he had sex with her. He wasn't sure how to explain it.

"Harder, harder, harder Tom!!" Hermione screamed out, as she desperately wanted to come and could feel the world ready to explode around her.

Tom pumped even harder into Hermione, feeling his own orgasm ready to shatter him. Amazingly, he felt her walls squeeze around him rhythmically, as his balls tightened, and he shot his cum deep inside her womb.

The sound of their shared heavy breathing could be heard as they both collapsed onto the bed. Tom reached out and caressed Hermione's heaving pregnant belly. They smiled at each other and Hermione put her hand on top of Toms. He linked their fingers together and brought their joined hands up to his mouth and kissed the back of Hermione's hand. She snuggled up close to him and laid her head onto his chest.

"Careful love, this is how this whole thing started tonight," Tom teased her.

"So tired, I need to…" and she said no more. Soon, Tom followed her into a deep, satisfied sleep.

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Abraxas's head left the fireplace and he sat back into a neighboring bedroom. "I am going to need to remind him to learn to shut the floo down." Abraxas smiled as he walked over to his bed. "They are so magnificent together," he dropped his robe onto the floor and climbed into his bed, nude. His took his jutting erection into his hand, "It's a bloody shame Lucretia is not here on Holiday, it would be more satisfying for her to take care of this problem for me." His hand, started to slide up and down his length, as he pictured the sight of Tom pumping into Hermione. Soon his release came, spurting out over his belly. As he fell asleep, he murmured something that he would never admit to another soul, "I would give anything for just one night with Hermione."

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Tom had his arms wrapped tightly around Hermione. "Ready love…hang on." Tom spoke to Hermione with a hint of teasing in his voice. Tom and Hermione reached out together, touching the old butter beer bottle. The suffocating feeling, accompanying apparation , almost made Hermione lose her breakfast.

"Hermione, are you OK?" Tom held her up, as she looked like she was ready to pass out. Before Hermione could answer, they looked up, to see six wizards, wands pointed, surrounding them. The faces staring at them were not friendly. Tom, standing stoically, tried to decide what to do. They were surrounded by unfriendly wizards, in a foreign country and a pregnant Hermione very pale and ready to collapse.

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_What other things will await these two in Albania? Let me know how you liked this little break from the angst. I love all of your reviews and ideas about the story. See you in chapter 33!_


	33. Chapter 33: Holiday in Albania

**_Sorry that this is so late in getting posted. Real life has been getting in the way of my writing. I want you to know, that I will finish this story. Please hang in there with me. Be assured that I will not abandon this story. I also want to thank you for all of your wonderful reviews. They keep me excited about writing this story. Anyone want to take a guess at how many chapters this story may end up having?  
_**

TCAT: Chapter 33: Holiday in Albania

Tom quickly tried to ascertain the situation they were in. Hermione was still passed out and not moving. He decided to appeal to their caring side, hoping that they had one. "Can you please help me? My wife needs help; she is pregnant with our first child." Tom could see the men looking at one another. One man motioned for the rest of them to drop their wands. Another stepped forward to help lift Hermione up. They placed her on a cot in the corner of the room. Tom made sure that she was breathing properly before he turned to the group of wizards.

"Why are you here in Albania?" the obvious leader asked the question. "You do know that we are still at war here in our country." Tom tried to think of his cover story for their presence in Albania. If it had just been him here, he would have hexed them all and been on his way. With Hermione and his child traveling with him, he had to be careful how he handled this situation.

"I have distant family in the town of Berat that we will be visiting. "The men looked at one another. Hermione stayed quiet, letting Tom take the lead. None of the men really wanted to tangle with Tom. Even though he was still a teenager, he exuded a presence already that commanded respect.

"Well then, you should be on your way." The leader went over to help Hermione up from the cot. She gave him a kind smile in thanks.

"Good day to you and thank you for your help." Tom led Hermione out of the small building. "I am going to have a long talk with Abraxas about where he got that port key. I don't think we ended up where we were supposed to be."

"At least we made it here in one piece." Hermione smiled up at Tom and held his hand tightly.

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It didn't take them long to walk to the small, quaint town of Berat, Albania. It seemed as if time had stood still and people were living a less rushed life here. They came to the bed and breakfast that Abraxas had booked for them and made reservations. It wasn't quite up to Malfoy standards, but it would be sufficient. As they walked up to the front desk, they were "welcomed" by an old woman who stared at them with uncertainty.

"What do you need?" the old women almost snarled at them.

Tom and Hermione glanced at one another wondering if they really wanted to stay here.

"We are here to stay for a few days," Tom tried to be polite to the unfriendly woman. "We have reservations under the name Malfoy".

The woman flipped through an old tome, slowly taking her time. The only sound heard was the turning of the pages and the sound of the old clock on the mantle.

Tom held Hermione's hand as they stood there waiting to see what the old woman would say next. His patience was wearing thin, and he knew he could not lose his temper out in the muggle world.

"Oh, here we are Mr. and Mrs. Abraxas Malfoy." The old woman gave them a sweet and slightly wicked smile. There was something that was not right here, but Tom and Hermione could not pinpoint what it was.

"My son will show you up to your room." The old woman kept glowering at the couple.

Into the front area came three, huge muscular men with the same, unfriendly looks on their faces. The biggest one stepped forward and picked up Hermione's small bag. He did not say a word and started walking up the stairs. Hermione took one more glance behind her, seeing the old women motioning for her other sons to come over to her. She quickly looked away, very happy to hide away in their room.

As soon as Tom and Hermione were in the safety of their room, Tom quickly used a silencing charm.

"What was going on down there Tom? I have a very creepy feeling about being here." Hermione took off her traveling cloak and laid it down on the sofa. She then proceeded to hoist herself onto the bed to rest.

"I was wondering the same thing Hermione," Tom sat down trying to decipher what had just occurred. "I think that we need to keep a careful eye on the old woman and her big brute sons."

"Do you think they would try to hurt us?" Hermione protectively put her hand on her pregnant belly.

Tom, at seeing Hermione's movement of protection for the baby, cursed himself silently at his decision to bring her here to Albania. He hoped that he would not live to regret this decision.

"I am so tired Tom, I need to take a nap," Hermione lay back with a yawn.

"Sleep, love and we will eat dinner later." Tom walked over and kissed Hermione's forehead and rubbed her belly. Hermione smiled and rolled to her side.

After seeing Hermione was soundly asleep, he left their room, warding it against anyone who might want to come into the room while Hermione slept. Tom disillusioned himself and put a silencing charm on his feet. Then he slowly made his way downstairs to investigate the owner of the establishment. They would not be staying here if he found anything that would be a threat towards Hermione or the baby.

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As soon as the young couple had made their way upstairs and were safely in their room, the old woman gathered her sons around her.

"They are lying. That man is not a Malfoy. I have seen a Malfoy before, and they look nothing like this man." The old woman was quite spiteful as she talked to her sons. "Where ever they go, I want you to follow them. Be careful though, they are magical, and I do not want them to know that we are also like them."

"What if we are attacked?" the biggest son asked the question.

"You will defend yourself, you fool! Have I not trained you well or not?" The old woman tiring of the somewhat foolish nature her sons often displayed.

"Now, remember the plan and stay cautious." The old woman smiled in anticipation of getting to the truth behind the young couples false claims.

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Tom stood stiffly alongside the railing, as he listened in to the conversation coming from downstairs. He was not surprised at the revelation that the old woman and her dimwit sons were magical. He could feel their magical essences when he had entered the room. He had not wanted to alarm Hermione at his suspicions, but was relieved to have them confirmed.

He would now have to be even more careful in hunting down the diadem. If he needed to, he would do away with the lot of them. Nothing would stop him now, in gaining Ravenclaw's treasure for his next Horcrux. They did not know who they were dealing with. He did not want to draw unnecessary attention to himself on this journey, but by the Gods, if they got in his way, they would be dead.

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Hermione woke up after a nightmare; sweating and trembling. She brought her hands to her chest and felt her heart beating so rapidly she thought she was having a heart attack. She kept telling herself to breathe, that it was only a dream.

In her dream, she had seen herself and Tom out in the forest. They had been searching for the diadem. It had not been as easy as they had thought. She had grown tired and had been sitting down on a fallen tree. As Tom found the diadem and held it up for her to see, the people from the Bed and Breakfast jumped out and attacked Tom, killing him; they then attacked her, grabbing the diadem. She was left there, all alone in the forest, bleeding and dying. As she begged for help, she felt herself fading and that is when she woke up. Hermione panicked wondering where Tom was ? She felt like he was in danger, and she needed to tell him about her dream. Hermione jumped out of bed, swaying as she stood. She had been so dizzy lately. Hermione was worried about the baby every day. Opening the door, she looked down the hallway and didn't see Tom. "Please Tom, where are you? I need you." She whispered the words hoping that he would feel that she needed him here, right now.

Hermione started down the stairs and bumped into Tom, not being able to see him. He ended the charm and motioned for her to stay quiet. She threw her arms around his waist and snuggled into him as much as she could. Hermione was still breathing quickly, and she shuddered as she stood behind him. She was so relieved to see him, she wanted to cry. Tom started back up the stairs, taking Hermione's hand as he walked by. They made it back into their room, and he set a Silencing charm in place. Hermione climbed onto the bed and Tom followed. Before Tom could say a word, Hermione climbed on top of him and proceeded to kiss him, not letting him up for air. "I was so worried", Hermione's urgency for his welfare showed in her next kiss, "Tom, we are not safe here." Her lips slid down his neck to rest in the hollow of his throat. Her eyelashes fluttered against his neck, tickling him. Then Tom felt her tears as they trickled down his neck.

He sat them both up, "Hermione what happened while I was gone? Why do you think that we are not safe?" Tom gathered her into his lap, putting his arms around her. Hermione leaned back into the man that she loved. She felt safe for the moment, as Tom's body was wrapped around hers.

"It was a dream Tom. Actually, it was a nightmare about those people downstairs." Hermione closed her eyes as she remembered the details from the dream. "They attacked and killed you while we were in the forest." Tom was stunned to hear about Hermione's dream.

"Did you hear anything they were saying when you came down the stairs?" Tom figured that she had heard about their plans, as he also had been listening.

"Tom, I heard nothing. I came down to find you to make sure you hadn't gone into the forest without me." Hermione clung to his large hands, shaking and not wanting to let go of him.

Tom had seen Hermione worried about him many times before. Her behavior now seemed elevated even more than before. By the way that she was shaking and clinging to him, he knew that this nightmare had been more than just a mere dream. From what he had heard down below, and now Hermione's nightmare, this was a warning sign for them. They needed to take offensive actions immediately.

"Hermione, these people are not Muggles, they are Magical. They know that we are not Malfoys." Hermione's eyes grew wide as she listened to what Tom had found out. "The old woman has ordered her sons to follow us where ever we go."

"Oh Gods! They are going to try and kill us!" Hermione was panicking and losing control once again.

Tom placed his hands on the sides of her face and leaned in, "Hermione, remember who I am. I am Lord Voldemort! They are the ones who should be trembling in fright. Nothing will happen to either one of us or the baby." To assure Hermione, he positioned his hands gently on her stomach, "I will let nothing happen to our son." Tom could see Hermione calming down and taking a deep breath. While gently pressing his lips on her stomach, he felt the swift kicks from his child. There was a powerful child in there. He would rise to greatness and rule alongside his father.

On the outside, he was showing his tenderness for Hermione and his son. On the inside, Lord Voldemort was planning on how and when to murder the fools who would be interfering in his plans.

He helped Hermione back down on the bed. He curled up behind her, as she snuggled up close to him. His hands smoothed her hair down, and then he rubbed circles on her belly as she fell fast asleep. Tomorrow would be the day he would find the diadem. Tomorrow would be the day he would make his next Horcrux. Pity the unwise wizards, who were reckless enough, to take on Lord Voldemort.

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**_Next: Into the forest they go _**...please review!


	34. Chapter 34: A Walk Through The Forest

_Thank you so much for your patience with me. I was going through some rough personal things and the muse left me entirely. It came back and I am ready to continue with this story. As I have said before, this story will be completed; I will not leave it unfinished. Thanks for all of you new readers to this story and all of the regulars that have stuck around. I also appreciate all of the reviews. I hope that you enjoy this chapter._

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Chapter 34: The Diadem

Hermione woke up well rested and full of excitement. Today was the day they would finally lay claim to Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. At the back of her mind she was plagued by one thought, she knew what Tom had done with the diadem before. Was he planning on making the diadem a horcrux here in Albania? Hermione knew that someone would have to die in order for this to happen. Chills ran down her spine as she pondered this. She really did not have the power to stop him from making another horcrux, or did she?

As she looked over at Tom curled up in bed, he was still fast asleep. He looked childlike and of course much kinder when he was sleeping. It was all a fantasy to think that Tom Riddle would ever be a good person. Though, she had to admit, she had seen many great changes in the man since she had first met him. She leaned over him and reached out to brush his hair out of his eyes. Her finger traced along his cheek bone and down across his strong jaw line. Hermione nuzzled her nose into the hollow of his neck. She loved how Tom smelled, day or night. Her lips brushed against his, tickling them ever so softly. As Hermione went in for another kiss, she squealed in surprise as Tom's arms wrapped around her.

"Tom, I can't believe you!" Hermione pushed against him wiggling her hips, but she could not move. Tom gave a huge grin and pulled her head back down to his. Their lips pressed together while Tom ran his hands through her wild locks of hair. They rolled side by side never breaking contact.

"That is the grandest way to wake in the morning." Tom's lips once again sought out Hermione's as his hands freely ran down her backside. "Thank you love."

"You are welcome Tom. I could not sleep any longer thinking about what we will do today." Hermione's enthusiasm shone brightly on her face.

Tom's smile faded as he looked at Hermione. "I am still not sure if it is safe for you to go out in the woods with me today." Tom's hands gently rubbed Hermione's belly. "I realize it is just as daunting thinking of leaving you here with crazy people running lose."

"My place is by your side Tom. We were meant to retrieve the diadem together." Hermione was worried at the prospect of being left out. "I beg of you, please let me go with you. I have come this far and I don't want to be left behind." Tom sat quietly as he mulled all of this in his mind. Hermione knew better than to push him any further.

After several minutes of sitting in silence, Tom rolled Hermione underneath him. He flipped her nightgown up to expose her swollen belly. Leaning down, he kissed the highest part of her stomach and felt a kick back. "Our son seems to be on your side and wants to go in the woods today." Hermione giggled as Tom continued to press kisses all around the circumference of her belly. Then his lips started traveling lower as his slid her knickers off of her body.

"You are so beautiful," Tom looked at her with adoring eyes. "You look especially lovely, as you lay there, knowing that my son is growing inside of you." Hermione felt totally loved, even though she had never heard him say that he loved her. Tom reached out to pull her nightgown off the rest of the way. The sight of Hermione, with her full pregnant breasts took his breath away. He had never felt so drawn to a woman before until now. He had never wanted to make love to a woman, this much, until now. He had never felt so devoted to anyone in his life, until now. He realized with much difficulty that Hermione, and the child she carried, were the most important things in his life. Together, they would be able to rule supreme in their world. She was the key to making his triumph a reality. This was the reason she had come to him at this time. The Fates were on his side.

Tom stretched out alongside her pulling her close to him. Hermione held her breath wondering what he would do and say next. She had learned to never second guess Tom Riddle. He leaned over to kiss her full, red lips. His hand wandered freely over her breasts, sliding along her stomach and down to her mound. He gently teased her opening as he sucked greedily at her breast. He gently turned her over and spooned her back side. Lifting her leg up, he placed it on top of his thigh. Hermione then felt Tom tenderly enter her from behind. His soft strokes moved inside of her and she pushed back onto him in a light rhythm. Their lovemaking was calm and tender; the only sounds heard were their bodies moving in tempo together. Hermione's soft moans broke the silence, as she peaked, and Tom's shouts of pleasure followed rapidly as he came inside of her. They lay there blissfully and let their breathing return to normal. Tom rained kisses along Hermione's neck and shoulders.

"After a quick shower, I think that we will be ready to finish up with our task." Tom rolled Hermione back towards him and smiled down at her."It is a good morning indeed". Bending down his lips kissed and nibbled hers. Tom's large hands gently pulled Hermione to his side, "I just love a warm shower in the morning, I find it so relaxing" Hermione said.

Tom nipped at her neck, brushing her silky curls aside, "That is not my favorite part of showering with you. Other things are more to my liking," said Tom as he swatted her backside and Hermione squealed.

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The sun was shining bright and warm as they walked through the luscious, green forest. The fresh scent of the pine trees wafted through the air. Birds could be heard singing a happy song and a mild breeze softly moved the tree branches. Tom held the Gray Lady's map in a tight grip. He walked slowly as he looked for the safest trail to travel on. Hermione's eyes stuck to the new trail, counting the twigs and pine cones along the way.

"Hermione, look at the view from this spot, you can see miles and miles out into the wilderness." Tom said, taking a break for Hermione's sake. Hermione's shoulders sagged, as she rolled her neck around and around trying to get rid of the kinks. Her hands had been holding her protruding belly the last mile, as if she didn't want anything to drop down. Her eyes fluttered closed as she tried to catch her breath. He could see that this little trek through the forest was hard on Hermione's body. His doubts, about bringing her with him, pounded in his head. Tom warily looked around him, noticing the dark spots within the deeper part of the forest. His eyes scanned for any signs of trouble, aware of all movement around them, from the snapping of a twig to the flapping of bird wings as they took flight. Nothing seemed to be out of sorts. A small brown rabbit hopped along the trail in front of them. Miles and miles of gigantic trees surrounded them .Most of them looked exactly the same, which worried Tom. How would they truly find the diadem? Back at the castle the map had looked so foolproof. As he scanned the map held in his hands, the frail paper didn't have as many clues as he had once thought. The diadem would hold strong magical energy. He was relying too much on a piece of paper and forgetting about the great magical power within himself.

Hermione drifted off through the high grass and found an old, dried up tree stump and plopped down on it. "Oh, Tom, how crazy that this old stump feels like a well cushioned settee. " Her hands once again circled around and around her swollen belly. Hermione looked as out of place, in this rough surrounding, as would have been the settee she spoke of. Hermione's eyes closed as her face tilted up towards the blazing sun.

Tom knew his Goddess was tiring and this job needed to be completed soon. Two hours had already passed since they had set foot in the forest. Tom took out his wand, taking a deep breath to ground his anxiety. As the air filled his lungs, he let a darker side of himself flow out to take over. The aura of power and total control swirled around him. He could fill the shadows overcoming the good that was left in his soul. This obscure side of him was rarely shown to Hermione. As the desperation had surmounted the past several miles, he knew that this side of him would prevail this day. With a task as great as retrieving the diadem, to be used as his next Horcrux, there was no other way to be triumphant.

Tom chanted a dark spell he had found in an old book in the Restricted Section, at Hogwarts. This spell would call on evil spirits to guide him in his quest. Flamina had approved of his choice using this spell. Who knows, maybe it was her that had created it. Flicking his wand towards Hermione, he cast a protective spell around her and his child. A gold sheen of light, splayed out, enveloping her. There was no way that he would trust any evil spirits around them. He also hoped, that it would protect her from himself, in this state, if needs be.

Casting his attention back to his task, he saw the grotesque and disfigured shapes of the evil spirits. They whirled around spitting fire and encircling him. "Master, Master", the eerie whispering voices called out to him. "Tell us of our tasks of iniquity," The sickening, yet sweet feeling of supremacy, swelled in his chest. Many more of the disgusting monstrous creatures' gathered rank around him. The full forces of Hell were at his command.

Hermione awoke from her nap as the keening voices of the spirits grew in volume. "Tom…Tom what is happening?" Hermione bumped hard into barrier of the protective spell. A look of utter horror crossed her face as she gazed upon the sick sight in front of her. Tom rose into the air as the spirits followed. Standing before her was the Lord Voldemort of her nightmares. This was the inhuman creature that she had dreaded Tom becoming. She never wanted to see this happen to him, but it was out of her hands. It had been that way from the beginning of her adventure back in time.

In a blast of green mist, Tom and his minions raced away through the now darkened skies. A harsh wind blew them swiftly through the skies, as swirling leaves and soil clouded Hermione's view. Hermione's heart raced as she beat her hands against the blockade surrounding her. She felt so helpless desperately wanted to help Tom.

After loving Tom, she had decided that there were two souls residing inside of him. One soul was the loving and caring man who was the father of her child. The second soul within him was full of greed and immense evil. Could the two souls ever be separated? How could she find the magic to rip them apart?

Hermione sat back down on the rock shifting in discomfort. Her hand rubbed along her back, trying to loosen the knots, which were shooting spikes of pain, up and down her spine. She also was beyond frustrated that she wasn't with Tom right now. It was supposed to be the two of them together, discovering the hiding place of the Ravenclaw diadem. Now here she was contained in a mini-prison of Tom's making. Where in God's name did the grotesque creatures come from? He had been encircled by a whole army of demons. Her first thought was they were probably subordinates of Flamina. With all practicality, knowing what Voldemort would someday be capable of doing, this had probably all been Toms' doing. As each day went by, she knew that she was losing the battle to save Tom from becoming the true Lord Voldemort. The only thing that moved her forward in her struggle was the child she was carrying. Hermione's hands rubbed her belly, as a sign of comfort to her son swiftly kicking inside of her. This small being always seemed to know when there was evil and darkness around. In fact, it was his kicking that had awoken her, alerting her to the terror that was surrounding her. Hermione hoped that the baby was kicking as a sign he was against the wickedness of his father, and not because the baby would be taking after his father.

Hermione hoped that he would be back soon. The baby was resting on her full bladder and would be causing her problems soon this far away from the loo.

The wind died down as Tom and the demons came to a grove of trees. The trees had been oddly planted in the figure of a spiral. Tom knew, from his study of Sacred Pagan symbols, that the spiral is an ancient symbol reflecting the universal pattern of growth and evolution. The spiral pattern appears again and again in the natural world from the Milky Way galaxy to snail shells. The living spiral does not begin or end; it is an ongoing process of innocence, discovery, community, and the essence that connects all things. Then it struck him, that this was the place where he would find the diadem. He knew that he would discover the diadem in the middle of the spiral.

As the spirits formed a circle around him, Tom settled on the ground, his robes billowing around him. What a glorious feeling that had been to fly through the skies! The demons started humming a slow moving tune. The energy emitting from these beings, was the most powerful thing he had ever felt in his life, save what he felt when around Flamina. This was the kind of power he wanted, no the kind of power that he needed to hold in his hands.

Closing his eyes, Tom stretched forth his hands. He needed to feel the pure magical energy coming from the diadem. Anything that had once belonged to one of the founders of Hogwarts felt the same. It was a combination of strong magic and heat that made his magic pulse within him. No ordinary wizard or witch would be able to feel this strong magic, except for maybe Dumbledore or Grindlewald. With the immortal spirits following him, Tom headed into the wooded spiral ready to claim rights on Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem.

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_Chapter 35 we will finally see the diadem in Tom Riddle's hands. We will also see what happens to the diadem and if it will become a horcrux soon. We will also see how Hermione reacts to Tom's return. _


	35. Chapter 35: Avada Kedavra

_**I hope that you will like this chapter. There has been such a build up to this point, I had to go back and do many re-writes. I am happy with how it turned out.**_

_**Please leave a review if you liked what you read. Thanks for all of you loyal readers and you loyal lurkers also. I never imagined that this story would grow this big or so long. Enjoy! **_

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Chapter 35: Avada Kedavra  
Tom felt like he was still floating on air as he made his way into the spiral. The trees were so tall they almost hid the blue skies. He circled around and around making his way into the center of the spiral. He could still hear the humming from his demon army outside. He stopped suddenly, when right before him was the largest tree among the grove. It's strength radiated from it trunk and branches, calling Tom to it. The hole that The Gray Lady had once laid the diadem in, had grown large enough for him to walk into. Holding his breath he said quietly, "Lumos" and his way was lit on his journey of destiny to creating another horcrux.

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"Dammitt Tom! I am so angry with you right now! " Hermione had tried everything to get out of the shell that was holding her. She had even attempted using her gifts from Flamina, but it was no use. Tom would be the only one who would be able to free her from her prison. Why had he done this?

Looking around her, she noticed that not one of the demons had stayed behind, they had all followed Tom. "I should have realized that something like this would happen." She surmised. "It doesn't mean that I have to be happy about it."

There was way too much happening in her life these days. Who knew what would happen in the next month and a half when the baby came? They would be done at Hogwarts. Where would they go from here? She knew already that she would go nowhere except with Tom. They had discussed it two weeks ago.

_{ "I can't believe that we are going to be out of school in less than two months." Hermione had her swollen feet up on the desk in Tom's room. "I am just worried about where this baby will be born." _

_Tom had looked up from his studies to shoot a glare at her, "What do you mean you're wondering where the baby will be born? The baby will be born in our home."_

_"There is just one problem Tom, where is home going to be in two months? I just thought I would have this baby at St. Mungos" _

_"No baby of mine is going to be born in that institution!" Tom jumped up slapping the desk knocking Hermione's feet to the floor. "I have made up my mind and there will be no more discussion about this. Do you understand." _

_Hermione's solemn face looked up at Tom, "Yes of course" It always scared her when Tom jumped off the handle and allowed his temper to flare with no control. _

_"Anyhow, I have somewhere lined up for us to stay for several months…until I work a few more things out with my…" Tom stopped talking and looked away from Hermione. _

_Hermione stood up, rubbing her aching back. These days she wasn't sure what hurt the most, her back, her feet or her swollen belly. How many more ways would she be stretched before this baby came? Where was Tom thinking of them staying? There was only one friend that he was really close to…Abraxas. _

_"I know where you are planning for us to live, you bastard! I will not live at the Malfoys! " Hermione shook as she screamed back at Tom. "This baby is not going to be born there." Her eyes challenged Tom as she gripped the chair painfully. _

_Tom was there in a second, roughly grabbing Hermione's chin in his hands. "You will never, ever, call me that again...ever! " His face red and eyes bulging, he towered over Hermione. _

_"Tom stop, you are hurting me." Hermione didn't care if she was begging him, she just wanted away from him. _

_"I will not stop until you learn your lesson. Have you learned it yet?" his grip tightened on her face where Hermione knew she could feel bruising occurring. _

_"Yes…yes I have. I am sorry." Hermione plead with her eyes wanting this torture to end. _

_Tom let go and pushed her into the chair, "Good, because if it ever happens again you will be very sorry. You won't be pregnant forever." He went and flopped down on his bed. _

_Hermione looked at him one more time in disgust and silently left. All that she really wanted to do was hex him into next year. How dare he decide where this baby would be born, when it would be her pushing it out of her body? She fumed all of the way back to her room. The next day Tom had tried to make up with her by being more friendly towards her, but she gave him the cold shoulder. The topic never came up again about the fight or where the baby would be born.}_

Even now, Hermione was still upset about having her baby at the Malfoy Mansion. There were just too many bad memories from before and she didn't want that to mar her first child's birth. Of course she couldn't explain all of this to Tom without giving away who she really was and what she had come back in time to do.  
Those thoughts only made her more agitated. It didn't matter anymore why she had come back to this time. If there was any way that in the future, she could influence Tom not to kill Harry's parents, then she would have accomplished what she had really wanted to do; to save Harry, his parents, Ron and many others. It was all a heavy burden to bear. She groaned, hating having all of this time to concentrate on her problems.

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The cobwebs were so thick that Tom cast a scourgify before heading in any farther. The excitement built up so much he thought he would jump out of his skin. It was almost time to hold the diadem in his hands. He could feel the draw of the diadem pulling him towards this long sought for treasure. Tom only had to walk another two feet. There, sitting on a jutted out piece of tree trunk, lay the diadem. There must have been some kind of spell put on the diadem to preserve it. It looked in perfect condition and he could feel the pulse of the Hogwarts founder running through it. With shaky hands he reached out and his fingers hovered over the diadem. Now that the moment was finally here to claim the diadem he seemed hesitant. His lips came out to wet his dry lips and he took a huge breath. Letting the air out slowly he felt his fingers grasp the diadem.

Laughing he began to talk to himself, "What was I expecting? Maybe that it would not let me touch it or it would explode?" Tom laughed again as he held the diadem to his chest. "All that you are is just a crown, worn by Hogwarts royalty. Soon you will be something special as a vessel for my soul. "He looked at the diadem with outright admiration.

Tom turned around with a hop and almost floated out of the tree. He was anxious to show Hermione that he finally had found the diadem. Of course, he would also be dealing with her anger about the protection shell that had been placed around her. If she would only realize that so many things that he did was for her and his son's own good.

As he came out of the spiral, the demon army stood waiting for his next command. Looking around at the evil figures, he felt the energy that comes from having power over others. This is the way he always wanted it to be. Dead or alive he wanted to rule over all. With this new acquisition he was more near to reaching that ultimate power. There was of course one more thing that would need to be done with the diadem. He would wait until the next opportunity came his way. Tom knew whom he really wanted to use to make this next horcrux on, but he was still back at Hogwarts.

The demons with their black robes fluttering lifted in the air taking Tom with them. The green mist once again swirled around them as if lifting them up into a cloud. With the same swiftness shown before, they soon were landing at the spot where Hermione sat on the rock.

She looked up at him, "Tom get me out of here this minute!" He could see that it might be safer to stay out here with the demon army, than face Hermione. Whispering the words in reverse that brought the demons to him, they lifted up into the green mist and disappeared.

The protective spell fell from Hermione. She walked quickly over to him and started to yell at him, "Tom…how dare you leave me…" she stopped when Tom pulled the diadem from behind his back and put it in front of her face. This act rendered Hermione speechless. "Oh…oh…you have it!" she jumped at Tom and almost crushed the diadem before Tom swiftly moved it overhead. He hugged her with his other arm.

"Isn't it beautiful? This is really Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem." Tom showed off the diadem like it was his most precious possession. "It is in the most perfect condition still."

"Can I hold it Tom? Please?" Hermione reached out to touch the diadem. For a moment it looked as if Tom was not going to let her touch it. Then just as fast, he brought the diadem down to Hermione's hands and placed it there. "It holds such a magical aura around it, much stronger than other magical items I have held. "

"Please, do not be angry with me. I only did what I needed to protect you. " Tom looked at Hermione imploring her with his eyes. It was at times like this that her anger receded quickly.

"I only wanted to be part of the discovery. I felt like it was my right to be there."

Tom grinned and said, "You would not have liked where I found it. There were bugs and many spider webs."

Hermione laughed at him, "You know that bugs and spiders don't bother me. Now those grotesque demons did bother me." Her smile disappeared as she looked at him for answers. "Where did they come from Tom? How did they get here?"

Tom was not sure that he wanted to truly tell her about the demons. "Well, back at Hogwarts…" Tom went reeling backwards as a spell hit him in the leg. He went crumbling to the ground as Hermione screamed. She pulled her wand out as she turned around to see who had attacked Tom. Coming out of the trees were the three brothers from the Inn. Their wands were all drawn pointed straight at her. Hermione threw a spell at them, which was deflected by the tallest brother.

Tom screamed at Hermione, "Get down now!" He struggled to get up and his leg was still useless.

"Protego!" Hermione shouted out. She shot off another hex, a conjunctivitis curse that hit the younger brother. "I can't see …help me I can't see anything." He stumbled into his brother knocking his spell off course.

"You dumb arse, look what you have done!" The older brother had been hit by his brother's Pertrificus Totalus and had immediately fallen over frozen.

Tom's laughter could be heard floating through the air, "Now Hermione…" and she turned back to the brothers, "Crucio" and the second brother went down in pain. He had been too busy yelling at his brother to notice Hermione. The wild excitement of actually casting this spell again fueled Hermione's anger and retribution.

The younger brother tried looking from one brother to the other and realized he was not currently in a very good position. Hermione held her wand towards him, "What do you want? Why did you attack us?" he stood there, wand down not knowing how to answer her. "Answer me now!" Looking at the second brother again she cast another Crucio on him, smiling at his pain. The third brother blindly looked around, confused, trying to think about what he should do.

Tom grabbed onto the tree trunk that Hermione had sat on and balanced himself. His wand was securely in his hand as he stared with desire at his woman. This was when she was at her best.

"Diffindo", shouted out the youngest brother, not knowing where it would hit, but hoping that it would help his situation. Hermione, hit by the spell, crumbled to the ground screaming and holding onto her chest.

"Oh Gods it hurts," Hermione clutched at her chest, as her own blood soaked through her robes.

Tom looked at Hermione and shouted venomously, "You will die for that…Avada Kedavra! " and the green light hit the youngest brother in the chest and he went down next to the second brother. He dropped down next to Hermione, "Love, let me see," and he peeled back Hermione's robe to see the cut from the spell. The cut was wide and deep and still bleeding profusely. "Vulnera Sanentur" and the deep wound sealed itself together. "Tergeo" and he cleaned up the dried blood from Hermione's robe.

Tom then lifted up the diadem high above his head, "You fools are making this very easy for me today. Now, you need to answer my woman's question…why did you attack us?"

The second brother, still in agony from Hermione's Crucio spells managed to spit out, "Our Mum knew that you were up to no good. We watched the whole thing with those evil beings. Who are you?"

Tom limped over and with his good leg kicked the man in his ribs. "You are in no position to be the one asking questions, but since you are going to die today  
you might as well know who is going to kill you. " Tom glanced back at Hermione relieved to see her sitting back up on the stump. She was still clutching onto her chest with one hand and rubbing her belly with the other. She looked up to him and tried to give him a smile, but grimaced in pain.

"I_** am**_ Lord Voldemort, the greatest wizard this world will ever see. You should have stayed away." The older brother's eyes rolled up to him in fury, but was useless and unable to help himself or his brother.

"Our Mum said that you probably had a treasure buried out here in the forest. It didn't make sense that you would take your pregnant wife tramping through a forest unless it was something special you were retrieving. He started stirring and tried to sit up, "Accio wands" and all three of the brother's wands flew through the air and landed in Hermione's open hand.

"Thank you love" and Tom turned back towards Hermione and gave a quick bow. Now he did receive a small grin from his lady as she nodded to him. "Now back to you…Crucio" Tom shouted out accompanied by his psychotic laughter. The second brother shook uncontrollably, screaming again in pain.

Hermione shuddered, as she watched Tom cursing him, remembering how it felt to have Crucio cast on you multiple times. She felt no guilt or sorrow for the act towards this man or his brothers. They deserved everything they were getting for attacking them. She just wanted this to be over with, so she could wander off and find a spot to relieve her swollen bladder.

"It is time…I have waited several months for this." He walked around the two surviving brothers. Stopping at the head of the oldest brother he kicked him hard in the head. The blood ran out of his head soaking the ground. "You are useless wizards…Avada Kedavra " Tom's feet next stopped at the body of the second brother. "I saved you for last; something special."

Hermione watched the whole scene unfolding, holding her breath. She was going to witness what she, Harry and Ron had always wondered about: how a horcrux was made.

Latin words came from Tom's mouth. There were many words she could understand and others she could not hear. The diadem rose in the air and hovered over the second brother. Tom's wand pointed at the diadem and then to the brother and back to diadem. With a loud proclamation, "Avada Kedavra" the brother died and the diadem turned a blood red color. Tom then pointed his wand at himself and uttered a few quiet words. Screeching in pain Tom fell to the ground. His screams continued so long Hermione felt like she was going to vomit. The scream was something she knew that she would never forget the rest of her life. What else would one expect when you were tearing your soul apart?

Hermione's tears joined Tom's as finally his screaming stopped. He cast one final spell and the diadem swirled around in the air five times, glowed a deep onyx color and fell down on the ground next to Tom.

Hermione sat on her stump, not daring to walk over to Tom. She could not ask him how he was doing after he had just made a horcrux. So she sat, patiently waiting for him to recover. Finally she could not wait any longer and wandered off into the thick trees to take care of her now overwhelming problem.

As she came back into the clearing, Tom was sitting on the ground. He reverently held the diadem in his hands. "Come, it is time to leave here and Albania" He stood, placing the diadem on his head. For some odd reason, it looked fitting upon his head.

"What about them?" Hermione pointed towards the slain brothers.

Tom's face showed anger only for a moment, "You are right; you have given me an idea."

* * *

As Tom and Hermione walked away from the Inn, they heard the screams from the old woman. She had just discovered the bodies of her sons lying in a heap in the parlor. Tom, still wearing the diadem, grabbed Hermione's hand and smiled as they walked into the sunset, Hogwarts bound.

* * *

_**There you have it! I am sorry if this formatted funny. It is 2:30 in the morning and I tried to fix things...too tired. I will start working on chapter 36 tomorrow. **_


	36. Chapter 36: Loving You

_Thanks for being so patient my faithful readers. I promise you that you will like this chapter! Major lemons ahead, for those who have been missing them in the last few chapters. _

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Chapter 36: Loving You

The loud knock at the door startled both Hermione and Tom. "Come in", Tom said in a muffled voice. Abraxas Malfoy and Lucretia Black walked in to see Tom and Hermione lying on the bed. What they saw just made them laugh.

Tom had his face next to Hermione's belly. She wore a lightweight shirt and they could easily see when the baby was kicking. "Did you see that? Every time I talk to him he kicks and tries to talk back to me." How odd it was for Abraxas to see the Dark Lord so easily interacting with his soon to be wife and child.

Hermione smiled up at their visitors. "How was your break at Malfoy manor?"

"We had a wonderful time, didn't we Abraxas?" Lucretia looked at Abraxas, whose face was blushing.

"Yes…we enjoyed our time together. " He reached out and took Lucretias hand and brought it up to his mouth to kiss it softly. They looked at each other, and one could tell that they had made many wonderful memories together.

"How about you two world travelers, did you accomplish what you set forth to do? " Abraxas looked at Tom wanting to know full details.

"Yes, we did and more," Tom rolled to his back and put his large hands underneath his head.

"Yes, you could say that we tested the outer limits of how much pressure my bladder can withstand." Hermione giggled and rolled over to Tom to give him a little push. He grabbed her hands and pulled her fully to him. His lips found their target as they pressed onto hers. Visitors forgotten, they proceeded to kiss each other, enjoying the feel of being so close to one another.

Abraxas cleared his throat to get the couples attention. "You were saying Tom…? You accomplished your mission and more?"

Tom gently rolled Hermione back down and smiled at her, as she blushed a crimson red. It was nice to be back at Hogwarts; away from the pressures of traveling in a strange country and collecting such a valuable item. It also felt good to have Hermione and his son back here at the castle where she was safe again. The whole experience in the woods had been way too close for comfort. Both of their lives had been threatened and that would not happen again. His son would soon be born and he would do anything to keep him safe. The whole foundation of his plan depended upon getting his child here. Graduation was in a less than four weeks and two weeks later the baby was due to come. He wished that he could spirit away Hermione and his child to Malfoy Manor today, not in six weeks. This would allow him to carry out the last of his plans before leaving Hogwarts. With Hermione still around, he would not feel as secure in doing what must be done. Dumbledore was still a threat to him and his whole future.

Lost in thought he did not hear Hermione, "Tom, is something wrong? You don't look happy about something?" She smiled half-heartedly at him, knowing Tom enough, to sense what he was feeling.

Tom shook his head, as if brushing away his fears and coming back to reality.

"Nothing at all." He stood up and starting pacing across the room. Tom's brows were furrowed in concentration, "The diadem was found deep in the forest, after many hours of trudging through the mountains."

"Was Hermione with you as you went hiking through the forest?" Lucretia looked from Tom to Hermione to see if they were joking about a very pregnant Hermione marching through a forest for several hours.

Both Tom and Hermione were straight faced and Lucretia could see that they had not been joking about this. "Are you two crazy? What if Hermione or the baby had been hurt in the forest?" She walked over to Tom, "What were you thinking? Don't you care about the welfare of Hermione and your child?"

As Tom's face turned an ugly shade of red, Abraxas quickly stepped in front of Lucretia pushing her back behind him. Tom and Abraxas stood face-to-face staring at each other. Hermione rolled off of the bed and grabbed Tom's wand arm as he was starting to lift it. Tom ground his teeth and was breathing hard. Abraxas' hand was down by his wand, his fingers rolling quickly as if he was ready to grab and curse Tom.

Hermione wedged her pregnant belly in between the two men. "Back down both of you!" Her hands came up and pushed them apart as they both stumbled back with surprised looks on their faces. "It was my choice Lucretia. I insisted on not being left behind. Tom had no choice but to take me. "Hermione's bossy tone took over the room, "He knows that if he had gone on without me that I would have come anyhow. At least I was with him and not tailing after him for hours and possibly getting lost"

Lucretia peeking over Abraxas' shoulders with a hurt look on her face. "You have no right to accuse Tom of not taking care of me and this baby. He would do anything and everything to protect us." Hermione pointed an accusing finger at Lucretia; "I think it is time that you both leave before I get really angry." Abraxas looked grimly at Hermione's frustrated face and then Tom's still rather red face. He nodded at Tom and snatched Lucretia by the hand and pulled her out of the room.

Hermione stood there, heart racing, as she watched her friends leave the room. She felt hands on her shoulders that turned her around. "That was absolutely brilliant!" Hermione was shocked by Tom's reaction. "There should be no question what so ever why you are my woman. " He beamed with pride and bent down to kiss her until Hermione was breathless. "It is just like Flamina said it would be. You are supporting me in all that you do to help me."

Hermione reached up to wind her arms around Tom's neck, "So you are not going to kill Lucretia?"

Tom threw his head back and a loud laugh escaped him, "I would never harm the woman that Abraxas loves. Anyhow, you put her in her place; I foresee that she will not be speaking out of turn anytime soon." Tom's hands smoothed down Hermione's back to rest on her bottom and cupped her to him. Her body came to life and she felt the tingles from this contact go to her core.

Tom's lips pressed lightly, on the side of her neck, starting by her ear and making their way down to her throat to land on her cleavage. Hermione's body shivered in anticipation, as his hands came up to push her robes off and they descended to the floor. Hermione eagerly tugged at Tom's robes, as he was trying to take off her blouse. There wasn't any need for words between the two lovers. They knew each other's bodies and what would bring complete satisfaction for both. Tom picked up a naked Hermione laying her on the bed. Hermione curled her arms up behind her head and her long locks fell loosely to the side of her face. A smile graced Hermione's mouth as she reached up to drag her fingers across Tom's chest. He sighed as she played with his nipples. Tom arched toward Hermione's touch, as he reached down to find her full breasts and tweak her round, hard nipples in reciprocation. The give and take between the two lovers was close to perfection.

Tom's hands were replaced by his mouth, as he took a nipple into his mouth. He sucked hardily on the ripe offerings. Hermione gasped in ecstasy, as her lover pleasured her all of the way down to her core. She clung to him, running her fingers through his hair. Never before had she felt such satisfaction while loving a man. She knew that never again, would making love with a man, be this perfect. Whatever the fates threw their way, she was his this night, and they would celebrate their love to the fullest.

Tom gently slid in-between Hermione's legs. He drew her legs up, smiling down at the vision of loveliness down below him. Gods he was lucky! He had vowed never to fall in love with any woman, but he was fucking close to doing just that. Tom pushed inside Hermione's moist opening and he slid home fully. Hermione threw her head back and moaned, "Oh, always so full. Faster Tom, please go faster." Her nails raked down his back, as if to push him into her more.

The movement of his child, so close by, didn't even bother him this time. So wrapped up in loving his woman, nothing could stop his actions. Each movement in and out, only made him realize how important Hermione had become to him. Melded together, hearing Hermione's cries of pleasure only made him come closer to his undoing. As she came so hard and tight around him, he caved in to the sensations and spilled inside Hermione. He laid his head on her heaving chest, as they both savored what they had just experienced. His hand ran circles around and around her very large, dark areola. He reached out to lick her nipple and he felt Hermione reaching down to him. Sliding up over her, he looked down into the amber eyes that always held such strong emotion.

"Tom, I have to tell you something…I love you. I really do." Tom stared down open mouthed, not knowing how to respond. Hermione put her fingers over his mouth. "Its fine, you do not need to respond back. I understand…but I just wanted you to know that I will always be yours. You have not only my support but you have my love. You do what you want with this; I don't need to hear anything in return." She pushed his head back down onto her breasts. Hermione could feel the tears that fell from Tom's eyes as they touched her skin. They laid there for a long time as she held him and rocked him in her arms.

* * *

Tom and Hermione walked down to the Great Hall holding hands. Tom looked over at Hermione and grinned at her and she smiled back. Before they entered the hall, Tom swept her to the wall and pressed his lips to hers and let his tongue play with hers.

"Well, look who we have here." Abraxas said, "I have missed seeing you two snogging all of the time." Tom looked up to sneer at his mate.

"We want to make sure you get your fill today, "Tom said. Then he pulled Hermione even closer to not only kiss her, but run his hands up and down her body. Hermione started to laugh and Abraxas started to protest.

"Fine, fine...Just continue this somewhere away from where I will be eating my breakfast." He shook his head and giving a grin entered the hall.

"You are such a naughty boy, Tom," Hermione said laughing.

"If you want naughty, you know I could give an even better show than this." His hands wandered down to cup her womanhood and rubbed back and forth.

"Oh Gods, don't start something that you can't finish." Hermione tried to move his hand away from the spot that he was rubbing and heating up too quickly. He pulled her down to the nearby alcove and pushed up her robes and dress and whisked her panties along with them.

"Who says I don't finish what I start." Tom then dropped to his knees spreading Hermione's legs apart. His fingers slid up her legs until they reached her Mons. Spreading those lips apart, his tongue darted out to lick her from top to bottom. His tongue next found the small nub, that he knew always brought her such pleasure. He took it in his mouth and started sucking and twirling his tongue around and around it. Hermione started her ecstatic moaning and Tom quickly looked up and cast "Silencio". His lips next moved to her vagina where he started to lick, thrusting his tongue in and out. By this time Hermione was almost falling to the ground. Her hands grabbed onto the brick walls, turning red from grasping so hard.

Tom then went back to French Kissing Hermione's clit. He thrust inside of her with his fingers, finding that special spot inside of her that finally made her come. Looking up he could see Hermione yelling as loud as she could. He was happy he had cast "Silencio" at the very beginning. She soon let go, falling into Tom's arms. He rubbed her round belly, laughing at his son who was kicking out at him. There was only one month until graduation and then soon after, the birth of his son. Yes, everything was wonderful in his world.

* * *

This all had to stop! Watching Tom Riddle, favor Hermione, almost made him sick.

It was time for his plan to commence. The time for waiting was over. With Hermione's child almost ready to be born, he needed to do it now. Dumbledore knew that maybe it wouldn't be entirely safe for the child, but at this point he could care less. The time had come, to entirely shake up Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr's world; and he was the man who would have the pleasure to do it.

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_This next chapter is the one I have been dreading to write. Maybe some of you might have an inkling of what Dumbledore has planned for Tom, Hermione and their son._


	37. Chapter 37: Changing Times

Sorry that this has taken so long to get up. Many things have been going on in my life. I have also been dreading writing this chapter.

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Chapter 37: Changing Times

A feeling of deep anxiety seemed to permeate the halls of Hogwarts. No matter what was happening Tom could feel the walls closing in on him. He was never too far away from Hermione. It was making him jumpy and frankly, Lord Voldemort was never what one would call "jumpy". The classes that he didn't have with Hermione, he had other Death Eaters watching out for her. Tom was also keeping a solid watch on Albus Dumbledore. It wasn't that Dumbledore was always staring at him, but it was the way that he looked, as he watched. There was somewhat of a smirk on his face, as he looked at Tom and Hermione. This had caused the extra watches to be placed on Hermione and his child.

"I am not going to break you know." Hermione broke the silence as they headed back to the dungeons. Tom wound his arm around Hermione's shoulders and walked very slowly. Hermione stopped walking and turned to Tom. "It's time you told me why I am being followed by your men? Everywhere I go, I see them about four paces behind me." Hermione brushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. Her hand then went down to hold her enlarged stomach. She bent over with a groan. Tom hoisted her up into his arms and started walking down the hall again.

"Where are we going now?" Hermione asked as she kept rubbing her belly.

"I am taking you up to the hospital wing. I will not let you have this baby in the hallway." Tom's face showed his worry as his brows crinkled in concentration.

Hermione started to laugh and struggled in Tom's arms, "Put me down Tom, I am not ready to give birth at the moment." Tom gently set her down not letting go of Hermione.

"You were moaning in pain. I thought that my son was ready to be born." Tom's face, etched with concern, only made Hermione smile some more.

"Tom, I am still six weeks away from my due date. I think that I am having practice pains. I read about them in a birthing book last night."

It was Tom's turn to smile. "I should have realized that you had already thoroughly studied about how to give birth. " Hermione rolled her eyes, as it had always been common for people to make fun of her intense studying skills.

Hermione took a hold of Tom's arm and led him back towards the dungeons. "Really, I am fine right now. I promise you, if the pain gets too intense, I will let you take me to the Hospital wing."

"Just remember that you promised me. I will not let anything ever happen to you or our son." Hermione laid her head against Tom, feeling at peace, knowing that Tom never said anything that he didn't truly mean.

* * *

The fires flames rose higher in the fireplace, as they all sat silently staring at the blaze. Tom and Hermione were sprawled on one sofa and Abraxas and Lucretia had claimed the sofa next to them. Casper, Radbourne and Alphard were all lying down on the floor, enjoying the warmth from the fire.

"I can't believe that our time at Hogwarts is almost done?" Alphard spoke longingly, in a soft voice, to no one in particular.

"Don't get too sentimental now Alphard," Radbourne poked him in the back, "It is not like we won't ever see each other again after graduation."

"It will be different though," Lucretia spoke up, "We won't all be living in the same house, let alone the same town." A sad look was directed Hermione's way. "I wanted to be there when the baby was born."

"Why can't you be there? You know where Tom and I are going after graduation." Hermione sat up straighter to talk to her best friend. "I just assumed that you would be coming with us." Hermione looked from Tom then back towards Abraxas.

"Yes, Hermione, she will be accompanying us to the Manor." Lucretia turned around to face Abraxas.

"When were you going to tell me?" Lucretia was clearly getting upset at the news that had been kept from her. "This whole time, I thought all of this would end at graduation." She motioned back and forth between her and Abraxas.

Abraxas grabbed Lucretia's hands and brought them up to his lips and kissed both of them. "You are not disposing of me that easily." Lucretia threw her arms around Abraxas and wouldn't let go.

"Well, now that this problem has been settled, "said Tom in a bored and rigid voice, "There are more pressing things that must be discussed within this circle of friends. Raising his hand slightly, he cast the Muffliato charm to ensure privacy.

"With four weeks left in the term, we need to keep things calm with the Death Eaters," The seriousness on his face made everyone sit up and pay attention. "We avoided a catastrophe back in December with the Gryffindor tie pin being found. Alphard has stayed out of trouble the last few months, so congratulations." Alphard sat quietly, showing no emotion on his face, for fear of what the Dark Lord would do to him. He had been severely warned that if he did anything so foolish again, that his life would be in jeopardy.

"I have felt very unsettled like a storm is blowing in. The problem is I do not know which direction it is coming from." Tom met every person's eye that was a part of his inner circle. "All I know, is that Dumbledore has been acting rather chipper whenever he is around any of us."

"I don't understand Tom, what does Dumbledore being cheerful have to do with us?" Hermione was baffled about this concern.

"That is our problem Hermione," Tom responded in an anxious voice, "Whenever he has been happy about something is when he has done something to thwart me and my followers." Tom turned and gently put his hands on her arms, "My greatest fear is that it has something to do with you." Hermione's face turned a pale white, as she shivered at the thought of being at Dumbledore's mercy." She knew from the past, what a powerful wizard Albus Dumbledore was. She had also seen his very dark side since coming back in time. She tried to make light of this fact, by thinking that this Dumbledore had to be his evil twin.

"This is why we are going to triple up on our patrols surrounding Hermione." He spoke to the men of his inner circle, avoiding Hermione's eyes. He knew that she was getting tired of being followed everywhere she went, even the women Death Eaters followed her into the loo.

"What if I say No? I really do not like being trailed after every second of every day." Hermione struggled to get to her feet, but was being unsuccessful. She knew that she could make a more powerful point if she was standing and not sitting.

Tom stood instead, "The decision is final Hermione! I am not asking you, but telling you that this must be done!" Hermione finally got herself off of the sofa and stood as close to Tom as her huge belly would allow.

"It is not fair! I don't see any other woman being followed everywhere they move." Hermione's hands were now on her hips and the rest of the inner circle tried to appear as they were not listening to them fight.

"Not every woman is carrying my child, nor engaged to me! " Hermione knew that Lord Voldemort was now standing in front of her instead of her lover. There always was a shift in his energy when this persona took over his soul. Hermione took a few steps back, until her legs hit the sofa and she dropped unceremoniously down on the cushions.

Tom turned to Abraxas, "This order is to be put into place immediately. Are there any more questions?" Tom looked around the room and no one said a word. "Good, now be off and study or something." The inner circle members quickly left, not wanting to be at the end of the notorious temper of their master.

Lucretia stole a quick glance over to Hermione, who sat crying and looking at the floor. Abraxas gave a harsh tug on Lucretia's arm and they left to go to his room.

Tom looked down at Hermione and gave a big sigh. "Are you ever going to learn that you do not challenge me in front of my followers?" Hermione kept crying and sniffing not looking up to him.

"This is for your own good." Tom sat down next to Hermione and put his arms around her. She stiffened at first to his touch. "I think I would go mad if anything happened to you or our son." That statement made Hermione look up at Tom.

"I am sorry Tom; I guess that I am just scared and ready to leave Hogwarts. Having people follow me around day and night has put me on edge." Hermione now leaned into Tom, snuggling up to him for comfort. "I am scared enough about giving birth."

"So do you finally see why the patrols are needed?" Tom gave a huge sigh, pulling Hermione closer to him. Hermione fell asleep in his arms with tear stains still left on her cheeks.

Tom whispered, "This is why I never ever wanted to get close to anyone. It makes you weak and unbalanced." Tom's hand went down to Hermione's stomach and rested there protectively, "I guess it is too late to worry about this now, I care too much."

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office working vigorously on a project. He had been there for three hours without a break. "I need to figure out this last problem. I wish that I could ask one of the other professors to help me with this." He reached up to rub his head ,which was pounding from all of the intense work.

"The only worry that I have, is that they will want to know what I am working on. I can not divulge my plans to anyone, especially to Head Master Dibbet". He put down the quill and shook out his fingers. He heard the bones in his hands pop as he flexed them.

"This plan has to work. It will be the only way that I can truly strike a blow at Tom Riddle." A smile crept across his face, when he thought of bringing Riddle down. He also knew that following through with his plan would start an outright war between Riddle and himself. At this point he could care less. Riddle needed to be stopped. Every year that Tom had been at Hogwarts he had seen him grow in power. He knew that he was behind many of the horrific things that had happened here at Hogwarts. The frustrating thing was that there was no way to prove it.

Albus paced around the small room whispering things out loud. "This has got to work." He continued to tread back and forth, thinking until his head hurt even more. "If only I was better at Arithmancy. None the less, this plan will carry forth immediately." He reached into his desk and pulled out two sheets of parchment and two envelopes. On one envelope he wrote the name, "Tom" and the other he wrote the name "Hermione". Leaning back into his chair he smiled. The plan was in place, and this particular mess would soon be out of his way.

* * *

Hermione was alone on the grounds, except for the four Death Eaters that were trailing behind her. She wanted some time alone to think. How strange that life had brought her to this point. When she first had come to this time period, she was hell bent on making Tom Riddle pay for his actions. Now, she was engaged to him and almost ready to give birth to his child. The breeze blew through her hair and she sat down. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes letting the sun soak into her tired frame. It felt so good to feel so free. Hermione stretched her legs out and twirled her very swollen ankles. She remembered the many times that she had sat out here with Harry and Ron. A great sadness came over her, as she realized that her two friends were dead back in her time. The tears could not be stopped, as the truth of her situation hung over her. Her friends would have been so disgusted at the choices that she had made here. In her defense, there was no warning that Tom Riddle was going to be so handsome and charming. Also, she never would have guessed that he would fall for her. The Lord Voldemort that she knew about did not believe in love or attachments. This was a totally different person that she had met at this time. Somehow she had made a change in him. Maybe this had truly been her real destiny. She looked over at her books, "I really don't want to study right now." Hermione giggled as she thought that this would be one more reason for Harry and Ron to roll over in their graves. They would never have believed that a statement like that would ever come from her mouth.

The wonderful silence was broken when a school owl dropped down beside her. In its beak it held an envelope with her name on it. She took the letter, "Sorry my friend, I don't have anything to give to you." The owl blinked and hooted then flew up in the air. "I wonder what this is." She turned the envelope over and noticed the handwriting. It was Tom's handwriting and she wondered what he was planning now. Hermione quickly tore open the envelope.

Dear Hermione,

Please meet me tonight on the Astronomy tower. I have something special planned for us. Do not tell anyone about our little getaway. Come before the dinner hour. Tonight it will be just the two of us.

Yours always,

Tom

"Yes, finally no one following us around!" She threw her arms in the air with excitement. Hermione tried to get up, but was having a hard time. She got on her hands and knees to try and push herself up, and then she noticed feet in front of her. A hand reached down to her. Looking up, she saw Abraxas's smiling face, "Come princess, let me help you." Hermione smiled back, "Thank you kind sir. This is one time that I am glad that you were here."

* * *

Hermione stood staring at her robes. Which one should she wear tonight? Of course her choices were limited since she had gotten so big. She reached in and took out her dark green dress robes. These were her favorite that Tom had purchased for her. Next, she fixed her hair the way that Tom loved the most. Her curls were long with no frizzy ends poking out. She applied a few makeup charms, but not too much. Tom did not like a heavily painted woman and had nothing nice to say about them. Tucking her wand into her robes she smiled at her reflection in the mirror. Leaving her room, she was glad to see that Tom had called off his men for one night. She happily made her way up to the Astronomy Tower. Yes, this would probably be their last night alone before the baby came. She was going to enjoy every minute of it.

* * *

Tom stood in front of his mirror admiring himself. He looked rather grand in his new dress robes. He was also pleased that Hermione had planned this evening for them. With all of the tension filled days they had been through, this would be good for them to relax. From Hermione's notes he knew that she would be fine getting to the tower with his mens help. She had stated though, that she just wanted the two of them to spend this time alone. It was almost the dinner hour, and Hermione would be up there waiting for him. It was time to go to her and he mustn't keep her waiting. Her temper lately had been so unlike her. He had realized that it was probably because of the pregnancy and her many fears of Dumbledore. Hermione was a strong woman though, and she would make it through this time. Graduation really and truly could not come soon enough. They both were so anxious to begin their life together. Tom smiled when he realized that finally he would have a family. This was nothing that he had ever planned on doing, but now that it was here he had accepted it all. He reached over and picked up his wand. Tom was anxious to get up to the tower and see his beautiful woman.

* * *

Tom pushed open the door that led to the tower. He looked around noticing that none of his men were around. They were supposed to be waiting on the stairs. He started to feel sick inside; something was not right. As he stepped onto the tower, his heart sunk. Standing there holding Hermione firmly was Albus Dumbledore. The wind had picked up and was whipping their robes around. Hermione stood frozen in fear as her hair blew in her face.

"Stop right there Tom! I am so glad that you could join us." Dumbledore's triumphant look on his face made Tom's blood boil. "It is time that this game ends Tom." Dumbledore held his wand at Hermione's head. She tried to struggle free, but he was much stronger than her.

Tom tried to think about what to do. He realized that Dumbledore would indeed hurt Hermione and his child. "What do you want Dumbledore? What do you need so you will let Hermione go?" Tom could hardly breathe as he stared at Hermione's face.

"There is nothing that you can do Tom. I know that it has been you behind all of the malicious things that have happened here at Hogwarts. I know that it was you that attacked me. "

The hatred in Dumbledore's face as he spoke frightened Tom. He was never scared of anyone, but this someone was threatening Hermione and his son. "What is happening here tonight Tom, is to teach you a lesson. You need to be stopped. You can not be allowed to continue this foul and revolting business. "

Tom's hands were shaking, he wanting so desperately to pull out his wand. He did not dare because Hermione would be caught in the crossfire.

Dumbledore reached into a pocket and held something up. "Do you know what this is Tom?"

Tom heard Hermione gasp, "No, no, please don't use that."

"This Tom is the time turner that Hermione used to come to our time." Dumbledore could not help smiling as he could see how his words were affecting the couple.

Tom looked at Hermione to see if Dumbledore was telling the truth. Hermione would not meet his eyes. Was it really true? Who was she really and what time had she come from?

Dumbledore put the time turner around Hermione's neck. "Please don't do this Professor, it will hurt the baby." Hermione's tears started to come. She protectively put her arms around her large figure. "Oh gods, please don't kill my baby."

"What are you planning Dumbledore? Do not harm Hermione or our son. I can promise you that you will always regret doing this." Tom knew his pleas were falling on deaf ears.

"It is the only way to stop you from becoming more powerful. We can't have a son of yours living to help you." Dumbledore started toying with the time turner. "I really am not sure where you will be going Hermione. Anywhere will be better than staying with this disgusting monster. "

Tom knew that he only had seconds to decide what he needed to do. He could not lose Hermione and his son. This was his destiny to have Hermione and his son by his side. Tom started to pull his wand out, but sure what spell he would use. "Expelliarmus" Dumbledore shouted snatching Tom's wand.

"I am sorry Hermione" and Dumbledore turned the time turner several times. Hermione screamed, "Help me Tom!" Her arms were reaching out to him. "Tom, Tom!" Her frightened face, screaming to him, was the last he saw of her.

Tom fell down to the floor. "Hermione! No! Hermione!" his cries could be heard over the Hogwarts ground. Rain started showering down on him and Dumbledore. "I will kill you old man. I will not rest until I see you dead!"

"You try Tom, but you will never get Hermione and your son back. So, it looks like I have already won." His mocking tone only made Tom more incensed. "The fight is over for now. You can't kill me right now." Dumbledore turned and walked out the door leaving the tower. Tom's wand was tossed to him before the door shut.

Tom sat in a pool of water, his robes thoroughly soaked. He knew that Dumbledore was right, now was not the day for him to kill the old fool. He would stick with what he had said. Albus Dumbledore was now his number one enemy. He would live his life to make Dumbledore's life a living hell. Something in his soul died up here on the tower. He knew that he would never be the same.

Glad for the rain that hid his tears, he stood up. Where was Hermione? Was she alive and was his son alive? He had to figure out where she had gone. He needed to call a meeting of the Death Eaters down in the Chamber of Secrets. Tonight he would start the plan in motion to take over the Wizarding World. He would not hold anything back. With Hermione not here to worry about, he would furiously fight back. Dumbledore declared war on him and his followers tonight. Tom vowed that he would never again show any weakness. He would never love another soul again.

Tom turned around, and gave one more fleeting look, back to the spot where Hermione had been standing. Pushing back his feelings, he took the stance of The Dark Lord. He violently opened the door , smashing it into the brick wall, and went to collect his followers.

* * *

Hermione felt like she had been kicked in the head and stomach. Where was she? "Oh, that hurts." She grabbed her stomach as pains racked her lower body. Hermione could feel the tightening of her abdomen. Oh gods, this baby was coming now. This was the most excruciating pain that she had ever felt in her life. Hermione could hear some talking and people running towards her.

"Who is it? She doesn't look familiar. Why would a very pregnant woman be out on a night like this?" The wind was blowing strong and fast. A storm was threatening to begin any time.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked up. She was in shock when she saw who was standing there, "Harry, please help me. My baby is coming."

"Sirius, run to my house and tell Lily to get a bed ready. This baby is coming now!"

"Ok James, I am on my way." Sirius ran down the street towards the Potter's house. James gently reached down and picked Hermione up into his arms. "You will be fine. Don't worry."

Hermione sobbed the whole way there, shouting out the names of Tom and Harry, before she passed out into a blessed dark oblivion.


	38. Chapter 38: Happy Birthday

Chapter 38: Happy "Birth"day

* * *

The tight circle of pain surrounding her lower half woke Hermione from her sleep. A scream tore from deep inside of her. "Aw! That hurts so much!" She looked around the room she had been placed in; it was a comfortable bedroom scattered with greens and blues, and had lightly lit lamps on both sides of the bed.

The anxious face of a beautiful woman, with familiar green eyes and long red hair, held her hand. "It will be OK. We have contacted a trusted healer who will be here soon." Hermione looked closer at the woman realizing that she also was pregnant. Her mind was still hazy as she tried to remember what had happened and why she was here .The last thing she could remember was being on top of the Astronomy Tower with Tom and Professor Dumbledore. Another image flashed through her mind of the time turner being thrown around her neck. Once again she groaned, but this time from the pain swelling in her heart. Hermione now realized what had happened. Professor Dumbledore has sent her somewhere else in time. He had hated Tom so much that he had taken away the only person he had ever cared for. The panic swelled inside of her and she desperately tried to think of a way that she could get back to Tom. She knew that this would not only devastate him, but also push him over the edge. The event had finally happened that made his transformation from Tom Riddle to Lord Voldemort complete. She was no longer there to try and stem the tide. Why had she ever thought that she would be able to change this man? It was destined to happen that he would become the most evil wizard in history., Lord Voldemort

Right now, the one thing very real for her was the pain, it was becoming un- bearable. There was no doubt whatsoever that her son was on his way. This made her very worried considering that her due date was still a few weeks away.

"What's your name?" the woman, really a young woman just like her, was still sitting by her side." Is there anyone that we need to get a hold of for you, like your husband?" She looked down at the ring on her finger. She reached around to take Hermione's cloak off. Hermione could see the look of concern on her face as she once again screamed in pain.

"There's no one, I mean he can't be reached right now." It hurt so much to realize that she really was all-alone in this world. Looking once again at the woman's face she knew that she had seen her somewhere before. A man walked through the door and it made her heart jump. The man looked so much like Harry, but she knew it wasn't him. Quickly looking at the woman next to her and then to the Harry look-alike, reality struck.

"Oh Gods! Oh Gods! You're James and Lily Potter!" She saw the look of surprise in the eyes of Harry's parents.

"How do you know us? I can't remember ever meeting you before." Lily and James looked at one another as they waited for an answer from Hermione. The room was silent as the three people looked at each other. Hermione's mind raced at what she was going to tell them.

She could see the look of concern that they both had. Thinking back to the time period in which she had landed, the first war with Voldemort was in full swing. She could see the suspicion in their eyes. Imagine how they would act if they knew it was Lord Voldemort's child she was carrying?

" I know a few people who are in the order…Ohhh, Gods that hurts!" The pain was intensifying and she felt like she was going to throw up.

"Where is she?" Bustling through the door came a much younger Madame Pomfrey. "Oh, dear, we need to get her ready to deliver this baby." Madame Pomfrey shooed the men out of the room and closed the door. Lily stood by the bed as the Medi-witch did some diagnostic spells on Hermione.

"This baby is coming and I mean now!" Madame Pomfrey said and she hurried to prepare Hermione to give birth. "Let's get that baby out of you and safely in your arms." She smiled warmly at Hermione and patted her hand. Hermione gave another scream as her body rocked with the pains of childbirth.

* * *

Lord Voldemort sat on his throne-like chair looking bored. His minions were reporting on the latest activity of the Order of the Phoenix and why once again why a well thought out plan had failed because of the idiocy of his followers. This second generation of Death Eaters was proving to be bumbling idiots compared to their predecessors who were the original Death Eaters. The only exceptions would have to be the two wizards standing close by, Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape.

"My Lord, I can explain about what happened." Goyle, on bended knee was stammering to explain the foiled attack on a Muggle family.

"I do not wish to hear anymore.." The Dark Lord bended over in pain clutching his abdomen. Gritting his teeth he held back the cry that was ready to come from his mouth. What in Bloody Hell was happening to him? He looked around the room trying to notice if anyone was casting some type of spell or curse on him. He bended over again, the pain more intense this time. Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape walked quickly over to their leader.

"My Lord, what is happening? What can we do to help?" Lucius even went on bended knee so as to see the Dark Lord's face. Lucius looked up to Severus for some help because he did not know what to do. It was always a precarious position to be in trying to do The Dark Lord's bidding. If you tried to help and did it incorrectly, you were cruciated If you did not try to do anything at all, then you were cruciated There was never a win-win situation when it came to Lord Voldemort. He loved using the Cruciatus Curse so much and it gave him great pleasure.

"My Lord, perhaps it would be beneficial to you to go and lie down in your chambers. There maybe we can better assess what is happening to you." Snape's deep voice had a calming effect on The Dark Lord. Nodding his head, he stumbled out of his seat and staggered towards his room. If one didn't know better when watching him walk, he would appear to be drunk. Lucius went to grab his arm to balance him. "Get away from me man, I can walk to my own chamber."

Lucius jumped back quickly and got out of The Dark Lord's way. "I am deeply sorry My Lord." He bowed as he apologized not even garnering a glance from his master.

Once in the chamber, Lord Voldemort dropped onto the bed screaming out in pain this time. He clutched his stomach feeling as if tight bands were being pulled around him. Moaning in agony, he felt a chill go through him and he glanced down at his left hand in shock. The Eternal Flame tattoo, that was a twin to the one on Hermione's right hand, was lit up. The flames actually looked as if they were alive once again. He looked wildly around the room expecting to see Hermione standing in front of him. Ever since Hermione had disappeared all of those years ago, the flame had remained black and unmoving. Tonight was the first night it had shown any sign of life. He knew what this meant, Hermione was alive!

* * *

"One more push darling and your baby will be born." Madame Pomfrey was in ready position to help the baby out the rest of the way. The tiny head had crowned, covered with dark, wavy hair.

"Please just get it out! Oh I can't take any more pain. " The tears were flowing and her hand was gripping Lily Potter's hand so hard, that she was also crying. Hermione glanced up to Lily and saw the pure terror in her eyes as she looked down at her own swollen belly and then to what was happening down at Hermione's other end. Giving one last push she heard Madame Pomfrey cry out, "There it is…a boy Miss, a beautiful baby boy!" She held the baby up for Hermione to look at. He was crying and looked positively slimy. Oh Gods please let him not be an ugly baby. Tom and she were not ugly people. How could they have had such a hideous looking child?

As if reading her mind, Madame Pomfrey laughed and put her worries to rest, "He will look a might better once I get him cleaned up here." Waving her wand she did a series of cleaning spells and then weighed and measured the baby. Lily handed her a blanket and she wrapped the newborn in the soft cotton wrap. She walked to Hermione's side and handed the baby over to her. "Here is your precious son."

Hermione clutched the newborn tightly to her and looked down at his face. Her son looked into her eyes and Hermione fell in love. This was her son she had waited many months for. He was so beautiful! He had an amazing head- full of wavy dark hair that reminded her of Toms'. "Hello Thomas, I am your Mum."

"You need to try and nurse the babe Hermione." Madame Pomfrey broke her attuned adoration of the child. She looked up to her in confusion.

"I am not sure what I am supposed to do?" Hermione looked over to Lily who also looked clueless about how to go about starting the nursing process.

Madame Pomfrey gently opened Hermione's gown and pulled Hermione's large breast out. "You need to try and help him latch on to your breast like this." She helped guide the breast into Thomas's mouth. Thankfully the baby latched on easily and began to suckle. "You are lucky Hermione, because not all babies catch on that quickly" Hermione looked down to see her son greedily suckling on her breast. She smiled up at Madame Pomfrey. She grabbed Lily's hand in excitement and started to thank her.

"Thank you so much for your help tonight Lily I couldn't have…" but that was all Hermione was able to get out before Lily interrupted her.

"What is that on your hand? Is that a tattoo?" Lily was gripping her right hand and turning it in several different directions. "Hermione your tattoo is on fire!"

Sure enough, when Hermione looked down at her hand, The Eternal Flame tattoo was lit up. She knew what this meant and that now Tom knew that she was alive. His tattoo would also be lit up and inflamed. The Dark Lord would now be on the hunt looking for her. Looking down at Thomas she felt scared for him and knew that she needed to protect this child from todays' Lord Voldemort. What would he do if he knew his son lived? Would he try to take the baby away from her? Hermione rocked her baby and softly stroked his hair. She would do everything in her power to keep her son safe; even if it meant Lord Voldemort never finding out about the child. There was no way of knowing whether or not they would be safe around him. She knew from history that he had changed so much since the year she had disappeared. All of this worry hurt her heart. Right now there was nothing she could do but take care of Thomas until she found out more about what Tom had turned into. She missed "her" Tom not being here at the birth of baby Thomas as they had always planned. It was all so wrong. Right now she really hated Albus Dumbledore for taking that moment away from her. Hermione tried to ignore the flaming tattoo as she rocked and nursed her son, and hummed quietly to him.

* * *

_The baby is here safe and sound, just like I told many of you that wrote to me. He is Thomas, not Harry, like some of you thought. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter where Thomas was born. I know that we all have been waiting anxiously for him to get here. Be patient with me, I am already starting to work on the next chapter. Thank you for all of the continued reviews! They mean a lot to me!_


	39. Chapter 39: The Search Begins

_Author's Notes: In my story Abraxas Malfoy will have already died by 1980, even though in JK's timeline he may not have died until the 1990s. Just thought I would let you know because the purists out there would bring this up. _

* * *

Chapter 39: The Search Begins

"Where is she? Why has she not come to me?" The Dark Lord was on a rampage screaming at anyone within his sight,. "I know that our son has been born." There was a look of anger and concern on his face.

His minions were not sure what to do about this current problem. Most of the current Death Eaters weren't even born when Hermione had been part of The Dark Lord's life. Even so, they all knew that this was a "delicate" subject to bring up with him especially now that Hermione had somehow been brought back into his life.

Lucius Malfoy knew more than most. His own father had often talked to him about Hermione Macmillan and how she had been the tamper to the fire raging within Tom Riddle. As soon as she had disappeared, the fire had burned out of control and consumed the man Tom Morvolo Riddle Jr. leaving only Lord Voldemort. Lucius did know that there was a time turner involved in this young woman's disappearance. From what he had been able to ascertain from The Dark Lord, Hermione would probably look exactly as she had back in 1945 when she had been taken away from him. Lucius had made the mistake of questioning this line of thinking and a cruciatus curse later he understood; he understood never to question The Dark Lord again.

Watching The Dark Lord pacing back and forth in his chambers was making Lucius nervous. In his hand Voldemort held a picture of Hermione. She was indeed a very pretty girl, though she was no raging beauty. His father, Abraxas, has told him Hermione had been a very intelligent and powerful witch. She had been the perfect companion for Tom. She had been one of his Knights in the old days. Once she had gotten pregnant with Tom's child she had not been allowed to participate in most activities. He also remembered a very important fact that his father had shared with him, Tom and Hermione had a connection that was very rare. When Hermione was ever in trouble Tom had known. If one of them were in pain, the other knew of and shared in that pain. This explained what had happened the other night when The Dark Lord had collapsed. When the pain stopped hours later, he had told Lucius and Severus that Hermione had just had his child. It all seemed so impossible that so many years later Hermione was finally having the baby. This was why he knew Hermione had just arrived at this time period. When she had been snatched from him she was only weeks away from giving birth to their son. Now he would do anything to have Hermione and his son back with him.

Lucius stood next to his friend Severus. "He keeps muttering something about

a prophecy. Do you know of what prophecy he is speaking of?" Lucius spoke low enough so The Dark Lord would not be able to hear their conversation.

"I believe Lucius that we need to journey to Malfoy Manor to speak to your late Father's portrait. " Severus kept watching their Master stomping back and forth as he talked to himself. The sooner the mystery of the prophecy became known, the sooner they would be able to calm Lord Voldemort.

* * *

Staring at the sleeping babe in her arms filled Hermione with so much joy. Who knew that this was what being a Mum would feel like? Thomas had such a changing effect on her, she wondered if this baby would possibly achieve the same results with its father. She hadn't been around him at this time period and she wouldn't even know what to expect if she did go to him. There had to be some way that she could find out where Tom was and how he was doing at this time. She really couldn't come right out and ask the Potters' how Voldemort was doing these days. They were very suspicious of her as it was and they were still waiting for some answers from her. It was time that she left the guest bedroom and start mingling with the famous Marauders. She needed many answers, and they were the only ones that could give her the information that she would need to decide what to do.

With her son safely in her arms, she went down stairs where she knew the rest of the household were gathered. Hermione quietly slipped down the stairs listening to the voices coming from the front room of the house.

"When do you think Hermione is going to tell us the truth?" Sirius Black asked his friends.

"Padfoot, why do you think that she is lying to us? I'm sure now that the baby is born she will tell us more about where she came from." James Potter sat on the couch rubbing his pregnant wife's back. "We haven't given her a chance to even say a word to us. "

"Sirius, she only had the baby a day ago. There's no reason to suspect that she is working for the other side." Lily Potter didn't want her husband and best friends to argue about Hermione. She was also scared about the war that was going on. In a month she would also be giving birth, just like Hermione. The most important thing was keeping her loved ones safe during the war. With Voldemort and his Death Eaters attacking magical people and Muggles alike, they all were on edge. Keeping the quick- to- anger- Sirius under control was a full time job these days.

"Sirius my friend, let's at least give her a chance to explain herself. " Remus Lupin seemed to always be the one who could tame the mongrel. "Please, I beg of you to listen to us before you throw the Mum and her new babe out on the streets."

Sirius shook his head in disgust, "I had no intention of throwing Hermione out on her ass with baby in tow. I just think that we need to be more careful about bringing people into your home."

Hermione was pressed against the wall not wanting to make a sound. She hoped that Thomas would stay asleep so she could keep listening in to what the Marauders had to say. It was comforting in a way to listen to the conversation. The younger versions of the Remus and Sirius were so familiar to her. They truly had not changed much as they had aged when she knew them before. With the Potters she could see how Harry had been so like both his Mum and Dad. If she had to have landed anywhere at this time period, she couldn't have found a safer place. Gathering her courage, she decided to go downstairs and face all of them. It might be time to give more information about her, in order to gather more specifics about Tom and the current Death Eaters.

* * *

Apparating into Malfoy Manor, Lucius and Severus headed straight towards the study. There hanging above Lucius's desk were one of the many portraits of Abraxas Malfoy. Lucius's father had been dead for a few years now. This hadn't stopped his son from constantly consulting with Abraxas's portrait. Lucius had joined Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters because of his father. It was also the expected thing to do. Abraxas had been a Death Eater and so he had become a Death Eater. His recently born son, Draco, would also join the ranks of The Death Eaters.

Lucius looked around making sure that his wife, Narcissa, was not lurking about. She had not wanted to become an official Death Eater, even though she firmly believed in blood superiority. Now that she had finally produced a Malfoy heir, she had no intentions of doing anything but raising her son, war or no war. Narcissa had boldly told Lucius that she thought the Dark Lord was crazy. Lucius in return had told her to bite her tongue and never whisper those words again unless she wanted to die. He had no control over Lord Voldemort, and would not be able to save even his own wife if the Dark Lord wanted her dead.

Severus settled himself comfortably on the settee as he accepted a glass of wine from a house elf. Lucius licked his lips and took a deep breath getting ready to talk to his father. "Father, would you mind waking for a moment. I need to discuss something with you that you might find interesting." Lucius looked as the magical

Portrait opened his eyes.

"Oh it's you Lucius. " Abraxas looked bored as he scanned the room seeing Severus Snape sitting there.

"Who else would it be Father? I am your only child, the Malfoy Heir." Lucius had never liked dealing with his father when he was alive and he even abhorred it more now that he was dead.

"I heard that your wife finally produced a living heir, a son. It is about bloody time!" Abraxas stood up in the painting and wandered around his painting. "You were born soon after I married. I did my duty right away."

Seething, Lucius tried to remain calm or his father would not cooperate and pretend to fall asleep again. What he really wanted to tell him was that all Malfoys' could not be as perfect as he was. "Father, why would The Dark Lord be muttering about a prophecy? What prophecy is he talking about?"

Abraxas turned sharply to look at his son and quickly sat down in his chair. He turned paler than a Malfoy usually would be, especially for a portrait. "Did you say Tom was speaking about a prophecy? What has happened Lucius? He hasn't mentioned anything about the prophecy ever since...Hermione?" Abraxas looked at Lucius as if he was in shock? "Good Gods is she back?"

Severus stood next to Lucius now that the conversation had turned interesting. "Mr. Malfoy, Sir, does this prophecy have to do with Hermione?" Abraxas looked up at Severus with annoyance. He wasn't happy that one of his sons' best friends was a half-blood. Then he pursed his lips in deep concentration.

"Yes, the prophecy is about Tom, Hermione and their son." The words came out of his mouth in a whisper. "She disappeared over 35 years ago. Tom thought she and the baby were dead. Has he seen her and their son?"

Lucius gave a quick look to Severus and then looked back to his father. "The Dark Lord says that Hermione is back and that she just gave birth to his son."

At first Abraxas looked confused and then his eyes lit up. "The damnable time turner brought her to this time. She was still pregnant and I would guess she is still nineteen." This statement made both young men wide-eyed and speechless. "Tom will be looking for a young girl, not an old woman. He hasn't found her yet, has he?"

Severus and Lucius both went to sit down, with Abraxas standing front and center in his portrait. "No Father, he has not found Hermione and it is driving him insane, or at least even more fanatical. You must tell us about the prophecy."

"Basically the prophecy said that he and Hermione were bound. They would have a son and with their son would rule the wizarding world." Abraxas shook his head a little and ran his hand through his long hair. "I was his best mate and feared what the prophecy would mean to all of us. To some of The Death Eaters it was a relief when Hermione disappeared. This only made him more bold and ruthless and vowing to one day kill Albus Dumbledore. "Abraxas laughed and looked at Lucius and Severus, "Hermione was the only thing that was anchoring his sanity. Once Dumbledore took her away, there was nothing to stop him in his ruthless campaign to rule and kill those with inferior blood."

Lucius and Severus sat silently trying to digest everything that Abraxas had told them. Soon a calm Lucius spoke, "Father, you helped him with this crusade. You are not regretting it now are you?"

"Of course not Lucius! I believed in pureblood superiority then and I believe it now. I am just concerned about Hermione. All of us loved and cared about her." His gentle tone shook Lucius because he had never heard him speak so kindly about a woman, not even his own Mother.

"What should we do Father?" Lucius was troubled about the answer he knew was coming. "What would you do if you were still alive?"

Abraxas answered with exasperation, "Well you go out and find her of course!"

Severus groaned and Lucius hit the wall with his fist. It would not be easy finding the proverbial needle in the haystack.

"Both of you need to cease complaining and go to my safe. There you will find my pensieve and memories from my time while at Hogwarts. Learn as much about Hermione as you can, what she looks like and sounds like." With a stern face Abraxas continued with his directives, "Once you find Hermione and the baby you will be fully in good graces with your Master. Now be off and leave me in peace!" Abraxas turned, sat down and pretended to sleep.

Severus said to Lucius, "Let the wild goose chase begin and let's hope The Dark Lord is not displeased with what we are planning."

Lucius flipped his hair and turned to walk out of the room, "Well, The Dark Lord will not be displeased about something he knows nothing about, will he?"

* * *

_So there you go! Thanks so much for all of the awesome reviews and feedback I received on the last them coming please! There is still more to come with this story. Thanks for hanging in there with me.  
_


	40. Chapter 40: A Needle in a Haystack

_Author's Notes: Thanks to one of my reviewers, mad-bout-horses-nd-cowboys, for giving me the name for this chapter! Thanks also to all of the wonderful reviewers out there. If you haven't reviewed this story yet, I would love to hear from you. Reviews make my day and they give me new ideas!_

* * *

TCAT Chapter 40: A Needle in a Haystack

"How long do I have to wait in this irritating body?" Severus Snape never liked using Polyjuice potion. He especially didn't like it because he currently was turned into

a teen-age girl. The only consolation was that Lucius Malfoy was sitting next to him, also as a teen-age girl. They had talked about different scenarios while hunting

for Hermione MacMillan, and they felt this was the least obvious. At least they had chosen the hair of some good-looking and shapely Muggles. Lucius was tempted

to explore the body he was in, but he felt kind of funny about feeling himself up.

The two Death Eaters had spent five hours, looking at memory after memory, in Abraxas Malfoy's pensieve. What an eye-opening experience to see The Dark Lord

as Tom Riddle Junior. They both had agreed that he had been most charming and handsome while at Hogwarts. One could see why he had gained so much power

while still attending school. They also had the image of Hermione ingrained in their minds. She was more beautiful than they had previously thought. They were also

impressed with her power and intelligence. It all made sense how Tom Riddle had fallen hard for this girl. They also realized, that more than Tom had grown to love

Hermione; Abraxas had loved her too. This was also a fact that they would never bring up to their master. He was irritated with everything and everyone as it was.

Lucius and Severus sat on a bench in Diagon Alley. They were eating ice-cream from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor while watching people wander from store

to store.

"Why are we here looking for Hermione?" Severus leaned closer to whisper to Lucius. "Do you really think a girl that just gave birth would be wandering around

Diagon Alley?" Severus could not help looking at the boobs on Lucius's chest.

"Quit looking down my top!" Lucius grabbed the neckline and tried to cover himself.

"They really do not belong to you Lucius. They just look really smashing in that jumper you chose to wear." Severus stroked along Lucius's arm. He slapped

Severus's arm away making him laugh.

"I had to steal; I mean borrow this from Narcissa's closet. Now quit ogling me and watch those people."

* * *

Hermione sat alone in the kitchen drinking her cup of tea. No one was up yet and Thomas had just been fed and was back to sleep. She thought back to a week ago

when she had gone and faced the Marauders and Lily…

When she had walked into the room it had become silent. From the look on Hermione's face, they all knew that she had overheard their conversation.

"Hermione, please come and sit down." Remus pulled up a chair for the new mom and her baby.

Sirius Black wandered off to a corner and leaned against the wall. He stared piercingly at Hermione, as she looked behind her she made eye contact with him. He did

not offer her a smile, only indifference. This made Hermione not only nervous, but very sad. She had once had a very close relationship with Harry's Godfather, and

now to be under such close scrutiny from him left her unbalanced.

"Did you hear us talking?" Lily asked anxiously. She had not wanted to upset Hermione, especially since she had just gone through so much.

Hermione glanced around the room looking at James and Lily, Remus sitting next to them and back again to Sirius standing behind her. "Yes, I must admit I did hear

most of your conversation. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop; I was just coming down the stairs to join you." Her voice was shaking, but she hoped that her sincerity

was showing. She had to gain their trust or she would never get the help she needed. Now all she had to accomplish was finding Tom's whereabouts.

"I first need to tell you about how I came to be here, in your time." Hermione could feel a huge lump settling in her throat.

"Hermione, we already know about the time turner." James sat on the edge of the couch. His hands were clasped together tightly. They had found the time turner

around her neck as soon as they had brought her into the house, the night that Thomas was born.

Sirius walked over, grabbed a kitchen chair, and sat down with his legs and arms crossed. His eyes were boring into Hermione. She could feel the hostility coming

from him.

"I was sent here to your time by…someone that wanted me away from my baby's father." It was so hard trying to tell her story without telling the absolute truth.

"Why would someone do that?" Sirius asked loudly with a nasty tone.

"This person, who sent me… felt that Thomas's father was going to be a bad influence on him." Hermione wasn't sure if her story was making sense or was even

believable.

"Why would someone send you through time, with a time turner, while you are almost ready to deliver? It sounds like a crazy man to me." said Remus Lupin.

Hermione smiled, "You could say that." Hermione thought about Dumbledore's frame of mind that night on the Astronomy tower. Crazy was definitely a word that

would describe him.

"So where is Thomas's father now?" James asked with great concern in his voice.

Hermione could no longer hold back the tears. "I don't know. That is what I need to find out." The compassion in Remus and Lily's eyes only made her cry more.

"What's his name?" Sirius's voice called out. "Maybe it's someone we have heard of."

Hermione held her breath, and thought there was no way that she was going to tell this group who fathered Thomas. Of course they knew his father and hated him,

which they had a right too. "He doesn't live around Godrics Hollow." It was easy to mix the truth with lies. She would just need to remember exactly what she told

them to keep her story straight. Thomas saved the day as he started to cry. "I need to go change his nappy, excuse me." Hermione hurried from the room and up

the stairs.

"She is still keeping something very important from us. I can just feel it." said Sirius. The rest of the room's occupants looked at one another, without saying a word,

because they knew that Sirius was right.

* * *

Lord Voldemort sat on his throne with an irritated look on his face. He was listening to report after report, which all had the same content; no one had a clue to

where Hermione and his son could be. Even his two most trusted servants, Malfoy and Snape had failed him. It had been two weeks since the birth of the baby and

there was no sign of him. How could this be? It's not like he could have vanished off the face of the Earth. He would have felt it if Hermione had left again from this

time period. She was still somewhere in Great Britain, he could just feel it.

"What about Hogwarts? Has anyone gone there to look?" The Dark Lord looked around the room at his circle of Death Eaters.

"Yes, my Lord," Severus Snape answered him stepping out of the circle, "I covered every level of the castle and there was no sign of a baby nor of Hermione."

Snape stepped back into the circle having answered his master.

His answer only seemed to agitate the Dark Lord more. His once handsome looks had faded somewhat through the years, but he was still an attractive fifty-three

year old man. His dark hair was now graying, but this didn't distract from his overall, strong appearance. Right now, the anger overtook his whole body and made

even the fiercest Death Eaters shudder in their boots. No one dared make eye contact with the Dark Lord whilst he was having one of his tantrums.

The other problem running through Lord Voldemort's mind was the prophecy that Severus Snape had heard at the beginning of the year. At the Hogs Head Inn,

Severus overheard Sibyll Trelawney make a prophecy about a baby who will be born at the end of July; a baby who would be able to defeat the Dark Lord. They

had been keeping track of every magical mother who was due at the end of July. At this point the main women they were watching were Lily Potter and Alice

Longbottom. It seemed all of his problems right now revolved around babies. The words of the prophecy kept running through his mind:

_"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ...  
Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ...  
And the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ...And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives."_

It was now the seventh month and he wanted to know who this child would be. But the search for his own son would come first.

Lord Voldemort stopped his pacing to stand in the middle of his Death Eaters. "You will all be assigned to follow members of The Order of the Phoenix. If there is

anyone Dumbledore would want to conceal Hermione, it would be someone from his precious Order." They all tried to not look at one another. They were already

watching The Order, but they would need to step up their observations.

"You may all go, but first get your assignments from Lucius and Bella, you will stay here. I have another assignment for you. Bella's loud laughter echoed through the

hall, as the rest of the Death Eaters left to hopefully find The Dark Lord's woman and child.

* * *

Dumbledore waited for all of the members of The Order to assemble.

"Please quiet down. We have some very grave things that must be discussed." The whispers could be heard as Dumbledore made his pronouncement. "The Dark

Lord and his Death Eaters are on the move again. They have been spotted around the homes of every member of The Order of The Phoenix. "

James and Lily looked at one another, and James reached out and took his wife's hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"We must all be watchful of where we go and never go out alone. Wizards need to be extra attentive to their witches." Dumbledore looked directly at the Potters

and then to the Longbottoms. "The Dark Lord must be stopped and soon. "

Mad –Eye Moody jumped up in the back, "Constant vigilance people, constant vigilance!" The room exploded with claps and cheers.

Dumbledore looked around the room wondering who in The Order had found Hermione. He hoped that she had made it to this time with no harm. Once he found

where she was, he would do everything to keep her away from Voldemort. The Tom Riddle that she knew in the past was more wicked thirty-five years later. The

Dark Lord would want the baby, and he might even kill the mother in order to get what was his.

* * *

_That is all for about 2 weeks. If you liked this chapter please let me know by reviewing. Who knows, your idea might wind up in the story somewhere. _


	41. Chapter 41: Restlessness

Chapter 41: Restlessness

* * *

"Lily, sit down and let me get dinner started." Hermione jumped up to help Lily who was in the last week of her pregnancy. Hermione could sympathize, considering she had been in her shoes just over six weeks ago.

"Oh Hermione, I don't need to sit and be idle. Anyhow, you are the one that has been up all night dealing with a fussy baby." Lily kicked her feet up on the nearest chair, while rubbing her enormous pregnant belly. It still seemed extremely odd to Hermione to know one of her best friends was growing inside of Lily. This was the strange aspect of her current situation. What would it be like holding Baby Harry? The other burning question in her mind was about herself. Had baby Hermione Granger been born last September? She really wished that there was someone that she could ask this peculiar question to.

Hermione started boiling water for pasta and turned back to Lily. "It not's like I have much chance to hold Thomas during the day. With the babysitting Marauders, they seem to keep themselves occupied these days playing with my son." The thought of all of these grown man fighting over who got to hold Thomas next made her smile. "I never imagined how lucky I would be to live in a house full of male nannies."

Lily laughed and said, "I just hope this house full of nannies stay on the job once this baby is born." She looked lovingly down at her stomach.

"Was someone calling for a nanny?" James came walking in with Thomas cradled in his arms. "Thomas and I were having a discussion about Quidditch, and how the best position to play is a Seeker." Both Hermione and Lily rolled their eyes at each other. James was swinging Thomas around like he was riding on a broomstick, "Zoom! And the great Gryffindor Seeker, Thomas, sees the snitch and races after it in full speed."

Hermione kept an eye on her baby, but noticed he watched James with wide eyes as he was "flown" through the air trying to catch the imaginary snitch. Harry really had been very much like his father. It was almost like watching Harry with Thomas right now. There wasn't as much sorrow and loss, considering that Harry would be "born again" very soon. This time she wanted to do everything within her power to keep Harry and his parents safe. What she really wanted to do, was Avada Kadavra Wormtail the next time he walked into the house. If that was what it would take to keep the Potters safe, she would do it sooner, rather than later. Hermione was not afraid at all to take down the spineless, traitor.

A head poked over her shoulder and hands settled on her waist, as Hermione stirred the sauce, "Ummm, what smells so divine." Sirius Black had changed his stripes the past few weeks, after he had seen that Hermione had been no threat to anyone in the house. In fact, he had started becoming very friendly with Hermione in a way that made her somewhat nervous. Sirius was a very good looking wizard at this time. She couldn't help being attracted to him, especially after the crush she had had on him during the summer before her fifth year of school. It was especially hard because now they were the same age. Though she was still very much in love with Tom, she had such uncertainties about a future with him; especially now that she had a baby to protect and raise on her own.

"Sirius, you can see what it is. I think that you are just begging for a taste, right?" Hermione turned her head up to meet his eyes. The way that he smiled back at her curled her toes.

"Why yes my lady, I would love a taste." Hermione elbowed him in the ribs and he jumped back. "You do not play fair." Ever the womanizer, he continued to flirt with Hermione.

"You can wait for dinner like everyone else Sirius Black." Hermione tried to sound stern, but the teasing tone in her voice escaped. "Why don't you help set the table and then we all can be eating dinner soon."

"Your wish is my command, lady" Sirius bowed to Hermione and opened up the cupboard to get the dishes.

The flirting between Sirius and Hermione did not go unnoticed by James and Lily. They had started to see a pattern develop the past week, with Sirius laying on the charm, and Hermione opening up to his advances. Of course they were totally open to Sirius and Hermione starting a relationship. They knew Sirius needed someone like Hermione in his life to settle him down. Sirius had also become very attached to Thomas and was taking a very fatherly place in the baby's life. Last night when Thomas had been up with a colicky stomach, Sirius had gotten up, taken Thomas from Hermione's arms and directed her back to bed. In the morning, Hermione found Sirius asleep on the couch with Thomas asleep on his chest. It had warmed her to him even more, to see his arms wrapped protectively around the baby.

The four adults enjoyed the delicious dinner and the casual conversation, until a touchy subject was brought up.

"Hermione, don't you think it is time to leave this house and get some fresh air?"James knew that Sirius had wanted to get her out and take her on a walk and take her somewhere nice for dinner. He had been encouraging him to ask her out for the past several days.

Hermione looked up with startled eyes. She didn't know what to say. She knew that she was feeling extremely restless and needed a break from being indoors. This was not like her to shun the outdoors. Her biggest fear was that she was not ready yet to maybe be found by Tom. What would he do? Would he be angry with her because she hadn't sought him out yet and brought the baby to him? She didn't dare go out, especially with the baby, until she knew more about what Lord Voldemort was up to right now. The same problem was still in play though, how in the world could she ever find out that information unless she asked a Death Eater? Hermione truly missed "her" Tom so much. There was an ache inside of her though, wondering if there was anything left of the man she loved. If only Dumbledore hadn't sent her back through time. She just knew that if she had stayed with Tom, he would have been a different man. Here she now sat, being pursued by Sirius and almost wanting it. Hermione felt so confused she didn't know what to do.

"It might not be a bad idea to take an afternoon off away from the baby", Lily encouraged Hermione. She could tell that James and Lily really wanted something to happen between her and Sirius. The question was... did she want something to happen? She knew that she was physically attracted to the man. Every time she was around him or he touched her, she tingled all over. He was such a handsome man and very fit. She had already lain in bed at night and wondered about what sex would be like with him. Hermione's cheeks burned as she met Sirius's eyes and hoped that he was not a Legilimens. She would be mortified if he knew what she had been thinking.

"I guess that maybe we could be out for awhile. But who will watch Thomas?" Even after she said it, she knew it was a daft excuse. There were many people that lived in this house that could watch Thomas for one afternoon.

"That is great Hermione! Shall we do something tomorrow afternoon?" Sirius beamed at her with excitement.

Hermione couldn't help but smile back. "Let's plan on it. What should I wear?"

Sirius got a twinkle in his eye and said, "I will let you know in the morning. It will be more fun keeping you in suspense." As he winked at her, Hermione noticed the triumphant look James and Lily gave one another.

* * *

The ill-tempered Lord Voldemort was tired of sitting in his room. He was also weary of receiving reports of no sign of Hermione or Thomas. He was ready to get out there himself and go knocking door to door. Why hadn't Hermione at least sought him out? Maybe she had no idea where to find him, since he had no idea where she currently was. Where ever she was, it was somewhere safe where he could not send an owl. He had tried several times to send her a message and it had always come back undelivered. Lord Voldemort's greatest concern was that she was in the clutches of The Order. That would be an easy deduction where Dumbledore would make sure to send her. So far they had been tailing every member of The Order and had not seen her with one of them.

In his depressive state, he realized that his son would be six weeks old now. He was very anxious to see him. There were some bonding rituals that needed to be done while he was a baby. Flamina had warned him years ago, that in order for the prophecy to come true, the rituals must be completed within the first year after the child's birth. He wanted a powerful son by his side. He would still enact his revenge against the meddling Dumbledore. As day after day and year after year had passed, he had vowed to someday kill Dumbledore. Lord Voldemort's remaining soul had grown cold as his mind replayed what had been taken away from him" the only woman he had ever cared for and the prophesied son. The Dark Lord's hands shook, as he imagined what it would feel like to squeeze the life out of Dumbledore. This seemed to be the only satisfaction he felt at the moment, as he gloomily thought again of Hermione and his son.

* * *

Hermione looked at her reflection trying to decide if she liked what she saw. She twisted from front to back, trying not to notice her large stomach. She knew it had only been six weeks since Thomas' birth, and she shouldn't be so hard on herself. It still was hard not to notice the remaining baby bulge. Hermione's hair was worn in long curls down her back. The yellow sundress fit tightly around the top because of her breasts, large from nursing. That was one aspect of her figure she still really loved, considering how thin she had been in her younger years. Her new curvaceous hips and bum had become a temptation for Sirius, who always walked by and swatted or pinched her. This made her giggle whenever he did this, even though she should have been put out. Sometimes it was so hard to be angry at Sirius.

A knock at the bedroom door made Hermione jump with anxiety. "Hermione, are you ready?" Lily poked her head into the room. "My, look at you! You are so beautiful!" Lily waddled over slowly to hug Hermione.

She couldn't help but smile back at Lily. Her enthusiasm and bright outlook lit up a room. "Thank you Lily. Is Sirius here yet?" Hermione couldn't help but smile thinking of the man she would be spending private time with soon. Her stomach had been turning somersaults, ever since yesterday, just thinking about her date. Where were they going and what would they be doing? Would Sirius try to kiss her and would she let him?

"Hermione, are you in there?" Lily was waving a hand in front of her face. "I asked if you are ready to head downstairs. Sirius is down there waiting for you and he is wearing a hole into the carpet." This broke Hermione's silent introspection.

"I am ready and nervous." Hermione knew that the words were very true on many counts. For many years she had crushed on Sirius and now she was really going on a date with him. She was also on edge because she felt she was being disloyal to Tom. Hermione had to keep reminding herself that "her" Tom wasn't in existence anymore; at least according to what she remembered hearing in the past. She smiled at Lily, "Let's get downstairs before I change my mind."

"In that case, get moving." Lily playfully pushed her towards the door. "Remember Hermione, relax and allow yourself to have a good time." Hermione stopped to look at her friend.

"It's hard, especially when I am thinking about Thomas's father. " Lily, being a good listener like she always was, stopped to listen to what Hermione had to say."I know that I will probably never see him again, but that doesn't mean that my heart has let him go."

"That doesn't mean that you can't ever love again either. Don't let something, or I should say someone, as wonderful as Sirius slip away." Lily took Hermione's hand in hers, "I just want to see you and Thomas happy and protected. It is a scary time in our world right now. No one is safe from the Death Eaters and their Dark Lord."

Masking her feelings, when hearing the Dark Lord spoken of, was proving to be a hard task for Hermione. He was so hated and feared amongst the Wizarding World. She knew this would be what she'd find.

"Of course I am ready, let's go. " Hermione vowed that she would just have a good time this afternoon.

* * *

Hermione rolled over on the picnic basket and grabbed her stomach. "Oh, I ate way too much, Sirius." She turned to look at Sirius lying on his side looking down at her. He had a grin on his face as he looked into her eyes.

"It was my pleasure. It is also a delight to look at your beautiful face and see you smile." Sirius stroked down her cheek with his finger. The single caress sent waves of pleasure through her. The depth of sincerity in his eyes, added to that pleasure. This man truly believed that she was beautiful. Every glance at her told her so.

"I am glad that you planned this today." Hermione rolled onto her side so she was facing him. "I didn't realize how much I needed to get out for sunshine and fresh air." She noticed Sirius glancing from her eyes to her lips and back again. Her heart started to beat quickly, wondering if he would kiss her and her truly wanting him to.

Before she could think anything else, Sirius leaned in close and pressed his lips to hers. He deepened the kiss, as he turned Hermione to her back and leaned on her. Hermione's hands went up into Sirius's long hair trying to pull him even closer. Sirius traced her lips with his tongue, softly plying them apart. Hermione allowed him in, savoring the strong taste of wine they had drank at lunch. Sirius pulled back to look at Hermione with longing, silently asking for permission to continue. She answered back by pulling his head back down and initiating the kiss.

Hermione didn't know how long they lay there, snogging out in the park, but she was sad when Sirius finally sat up. "It's time we got back to Thomas. " He smiled as he grabbed her hands to pull her up. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I don't want this to end, but I know my limits and this is about all I can do safely in the middle of a park."

Hermione laughed at his words, "I agree that the park isn't the place for further…exploration." Sirius raised his eyebrows at Hermione's choice of words.

"We will have to continue this…conversation, some other time." Sirius grabbed the blanket and basket and took Hermione's hand. He kissed her one more time and then led her home. They walked down the lane not noticing anyone or anything around them.

* * *

Standing behind a utility building, a Death Eater was ready to burst out, "Black with Hermione? That had to have been her. "Severus Snape had looked at Hermione's picture every day for the last six weeks. He would hurry back to The Dark Lord and show him his thoughts. This would make him happy and in turn would make all of his Death Eaters happier. If it was Hermione, The Dark Lord would not be pleased to see Sirius Black with his woman. Snape apparated away with a sneer, knowing what Voldemort would do to Sirius if it truly was her.

….

* * *

_I hope that you enjoyed this longer chapter. No hate mail please. You had to have seen this coming right? But…you don't know what is yet to come, so calm down and savor the chapter and leave me some kind reviews. Thanks so all of the new people who have signed up to follow this story, I want to hear from you now, please!  
_


	42. Chapter 42:Found

Chapter 42: Found

Severus Snape walked quickly through the halls of the mansion. He had run to the apparition point, apparated, and then ran the mile that led to his destination. He could not believe his luck in spotting Hermione with Black. For six long weeks they had done nothing but search all the wizarding areas, and they had also been spending a lot of time in Muggle cities and towns. They had come up with nothing. They had not spotted Hermione or the Dark Lord's son. Catching his breath, Severus straightened his robes and smoothed down his hair. He was planning out where he would stand when he delivered the news to the Dark Lord. With the ugly mood that he had been in lately, this current news wouldn't brighten his spirits any. Severus didn't want to be at the end of an Unforgivable curse when he delivered the news of his findings. He knew that even when "good" news was delivered, the bearer of such news, was not always well received. Taking a deep breath, he blew it out slowly to settle his shaky nerves. He opened the wide, wooden doors that led to his Masters chambers. His own footsteps clicked loudly in his ears on the tile floors. Severus stood waiting at the entrance to the open chamber. The Dark Lord was standing in front of a full length mirror, staring at his reflection.

"Do you think that she will still be attracted to me Severus?" His eyes locked with his servants; waiting, questioning.

Severus gave a blank look towards his Master. Lord Voldemort was still a strong, good looking wizard, though he was now in his fifties. Many witches were still following him around and wanting to warm his bed. Whether this happened because of his looks or the power he emanated, he never lacked for female company. He lately had aged some, as he had purportedly been messing around with some very dark magic, according to Lucius Malfoy. When Severus questioned him about the darkness of the magic, Lucius would only say that The Dark Lord's soul would never be the same. This puzzled Severus, but he had never pursued the conversation after that.

Walking over to the Dark Lord, he dropped to his knees and bowed his head. He reached out to touch his Master's robes, "How could she not be? If she could only see you again she would realize her love was still alive."

Lord Voldemort turned around staring at the Death Eater on the floor. "You've seen her. Haven't you?" His question was more a statement, and said with a blend of excitement and anger. "Stand Severus, and tell me what you are trying so hard to block from me."

Severus peeked up at his Master, through the strands of hair falling over his face. He quickly stood in front of him with some trepidation,"Yes, my Lord, I think I saw her today. I saw a woman that resembled the picture of Hermione."

The anger fled from The Dark Lord, as his eyes lit up with pleasure. "Tell me, where did you see her? Did she have my son with her? Did she look well?" He spoke so quickly that Severus had a hard time trying to formulate in his mind how he was going to answer all of his questions without being cursed. How was he going to explain that not only had he seen her, but he had seen Sirius Black laying and grinding on top of her. He had seen Hermione wearing a dress that accentuated every beautiful curve on her luscious body, including her delicious large breasts. They were practically falling out of the halter, style dress. That dog Black hadn't been able to keep his eyes or hands off of her. Severus licked his dry lips and parched throat as he prepared what to say and exactly how to say it.

"Spit it out man! What are you trying so hard not to tell me? Is she ugly and maimed?" The Dark Lord's furry was building and it was about ready to explode.

Severus almost laughed out loud at the thought of Hermione being described as ugly. She was nowhere even close to ugly. This woman was beautiful and alluring, He could see why his Master had fallen for this witch so long ago. "My Lord, she was at a park, on what looked like a picnic"

The Dark Lord's face was now showing shock, not anger. "A picnic you say? Who was she on a picnic with, the baby maybe?"

"No my Lord, Hermione didn't have the baby with her." Severus wasn't going to spill all of the information at once. He didn't know if this was a good strategy or not.

"Who was she with then?" Lord Voldemort shouted as he stood clenching his fists, looking like he wanted to reach out and strangle Severus.

"She was with Sirius Black, an Order member." Severus took three steps back ready to make a quick retreat if needed.

"What was she doing with Regulus Black's brother? Was it only the two of them?"

"Yes, my Lord, they looked like they were on a date together." Severus held his breath waiting for a curse to hit him.

"What were they doing on this date? I want all of the details Severus Snape!"

Severus knew his time of keeping secrets was up. He needed to give all of the details to his Master now. Before Severus could think of anything else to say, the Dark Lord pulled him to him, looking deep into his eyes. The Master of Legilimency was now searching for the truth. Severus Snape could feel his mind being invaded. It was painful as The Dark Lord was rushing through his memories. He heard Lord Voldemort catch his breath and utter a few vulgarities as he viewed Hermione and Black together. When finished, The Dark Lord shoved Severus away knocking him to the ground. "I will kill him! I may kill them both! How could she do this to me?" Severus stayed slumped over on the floor. He knew that his Master was not looking for him to answer any of his questions. He often ranted and raved like this out loud.

"I thought she loved me! Where is my son?" Without speaking another word to his servant, Lord Voldemort apparated out of his chambers, while Severus lay shaking on the floor. He couldn't believe his luck at not being cursed while delivering this unwanted news to his Master. With his head aching, he slowly curled up from the floor, and stood on unbalanced legs. He sluggishly made his way out of his Master's chambers. He didn't want to still be there when he returned.

Hermione could not keep the smile off of her face. Ever since her date with Sirius she had been floating around the Potter's house. Lily had thoroughly questioned her when she had returned. Sirius had dropped her off and left, leaving Hermione standing there grinning. First, he had given her a long, hard kiss, then apparated away. Lily had clapped her hands in excitement and pulled Hermione into the sitting room.

"You need to spill it all. Apparently things went well, right? Or he wouldn't have left you with that kind of a kiss." Lily was so excited; a bystander would have thought Sirius had kissed her.

"Calm down Lily before you put yourself into labor." Hermione knew she was still four days away from when Harry would be born.

"So what did you do? Where did you go? Did you snog a lot?"

"Slow down and I will tell you everything. We went to the park for a picnic and yes, and then we did a good share of snogging." Hermione beamed as she shared about her time with Sirius. As she thought about Sirius kissing her, it made her body start to shiver and tingle. "He pulled together a fine lunch, tasty cheese, meats and wine."

"He makes me laugh Lily. I can feel the darkness start lifting when I'm around him. I haven't felt this light in such a long time." Hermione looked so content; all Lily could do was smile back at her.

"You know we love Sirius and we have grown to love you and Thomas. This makes me so happy!" Hermione's mind was swirling with so many thoughts and feelings. One part of her was so ecstatic at the feelings of new love for Sirius. On the other side she was flooded with guilt. She still loved Tom Riddle, the young man, from long ago. How could she love the Dark Lord that he had turned into? She hated that man with a passion. That is the monster that had killed so many of her beloved friends. While she had been in the throes of falling in love with Tom, it had been easy to forget the monster he would turn into some day. Hermione had honestly believed, that with her love and the child they shared, that she would change the course of history. Dumbledore had taken those dreams away from her when he had sent her to this time. What was she supposed to do? She was not willing to give up her son to the Dark Lord before she knew what he was like now. From all of the stories the Marauders had shared with her, he hadn't steered away from the course he had been on the first time with or without her in his life. Thomas's crying interrupted her line of thinking, and she jumped up. "I need to go get him. I know he must be hungry." She ran out of the room and up the stairs before Lily could question her further about Sirius. She wasn't sure what else she wanted to share with Lily.

Sirius, James and Lupin were gathered around a table in the local pub. Sirius had kicked his legs up on the table, as he guzzled down his second beer. His friends had wanted to know all of the details about his time with Hermione.

"So tell us how things went with the beautiful Hermione?" James asked him as he grinned at his friend.

"Better yet," said Lupin, "What was she wearing and did you lay on the typical Sirius Black charm?" The friends laughed together as they knew their friend well and how he was around the ladies.

"She was wearing something, that when I laid my eyes on her, I started thinking with my other head."

"Tell us something that we don't already know Padfoot." James smacked Sirius hard in the back, causing him to fall forward in his seat.

"She had on a yellow, halter sundress that was so tight on the top. I wanted to reach up and untie the bow on the back of her dress, so those huge baps would spill out into my hands." Sirius closed his eyes as he talked, envisioning how Hermione had looked that day.

"So did you do more than look and wish?" James asked. Both of the friends were hoping for more details than what her dress looked like.

"Oh I thought you gents knew me better than that," Sirius put his hands over his heart," Of course I did more than look!" His eyebrows wiggled as he continued, "We had a right fine time of some good old fashioned snogging. I wasn't sure that was even going to happen. She is as scared as a mouse."

"Sirius, I don't think she's scared at all, of you that is. Remember she may still be in love with Thomas's father. Don't pressure her mate. "Remus looked sternly at his friend. "If you push too hard you may scare her away."

James almost laughed when he saw the puzzled look on Sirius's face. He was not used to backing down when it came to a woman that he wanted. He could tell that his best friend was in this to win over the girl. The question was, maybe Hermione's heart wasn't available for the taking. He and Lily had been staying up late, many nights, taking about this exact thing. Though Hermione didn't know exactly where Thomas's father was, he was indeed out there. Until she settled things, one way or another with this man, Hermione wouldn't be truly free to love again. They had grown to love Hermione and only wanted her happy. James looked up and saw his friends in animated conversation again, about the date with Hermione. James just smiled and took another drink, not sure how this was all going to turn out.

Author's Notes: Thanks to so many of you that have hung in there with me during the past several months since I last posted a chapter. Too many things have been happening in Real Life that has vied for my attention. Please review and let me know what you think about where this is going. Who would you rather see Hermione with? How long would you like this story to be? For as many chapters as this story is, and how many people have put this down as a favorite story, the reviews don't show it. Please let me know you want more and what you are thinking. Feedback and reviews are gold to a writer, good and bad. Thanks!


	43. Chapter 43: The Chosen One is Born

Chapter 43: The Chosen One is Born

The screams coming from Hermione's room woke up the entire household. James and Lily came running into the room to see Hermione sobbing, lying across her bed. She was rubbing a spot on her chest and had a pained look on her face. Baby Thomas was crying after having been woken up by his mother's screams. Lily went and scooped Thomas in her arms and tried to comfort him. James sat down by Hermione, putting his arms around her.

"What wrong? Are you just having another bad dream?" James asked, not really sure what to say to the distraught woman.

"It's more than that." Hermione looked at James and Lily." He knows what happened." The Potters looked at each other with great concern. Any outsider would think that she sounded a bit round the bend.

"Who knows what Hermione?" Lily stood close by as she bounced Thomas in her arms. Her movements were starting to quiet down the fussy baby.

"Him, Thomas's father. He knows what happened between me and Sirius." All of what she said still didn't make much sense. "He is a very powerful wizard, and we have always been connected until recently. Somehow he has mended our connection and is letting me know how unhappy he is with me." Hermione continued the rocking motion on her bed, her arms wrapped around her legs. "He will kill me and take Thomas. I know he will want the baby. It was meant to be." There was a scared and hollow look in Hermione's eyes, as her voiced dropped off.

Lily placed Thomas in James's arms. 'Why don't you go downstairs and make some tea for us. I need to talk to Hermione alone." James shook his head, sighed, and left the room muttering something about women to Thomas.

"Now Hermione, how do you really know that Thomas's father was angry with you? Are you sure it just wasn't a bad dream brought on by a bought of guilt?" Hermione sat motionless, not acknowledging Lily or what she said. "We shouldn't have pushed you to go out with Sirius before you were ready." Lily reached out and took Hermione's hands in hers." Gods, you just had another man's baby! What were we thinking?"

Hermione sniffed, and wiped away some tears. "Lily, this isn't your fault. None of this is anyone's fault, but my bad judgment and mine alone. I should have known better." She ended her sentence in a whisper. Hermione was thinking about Tom and his horrendous bad temper. She could only imagine that it had gotten worse since she had disappeared, due to Dumbledore's treachery. She sat, trying

to stop the shakes, knowing that there wasn't any way that she could disclose who fathered baby Thomas. With the war going on now, they might possibly think that she was a spy.

"Oh that really hurts!" Lily rubbed her large stomach. "I keep thinking that these pains are the real ones this time. They feel very different and take my breath away." Lily sat looking at Hermione with a worried look on her face. "I'm getting scared Hermione. What if something happens to my baby?"

Hermione tried not to smile wanting to tell her that baby Harry would be born safely, and soon. The bigger problem was figuring out how to protect the family eighteen months from now when Lord Voldemort would come calling.

Lily, "I know that everything will be just fine. I have a very good feeling about your baby." She felt better thinking about her friend, and not dwelling on the reality of Tom being angry with her.

"I hope that you're right. I'm done with being pregnant. My feet and back hurt so much! I can't take much more of this." Lily flopped back onto Hermione's bed. She looked up at her new friend. "Are you feeling any better? I'm sure that you just had a very vivid and terrible dream."

Hermione nodded, "You're probably right." Hermione knew better though, and knew what this all meant. It was time to find where Tom was, and she needed to face him. She couldn't hide any longer.

* * *

The Dark Lord sat on his throne moping. He'd been calling for Hermione all night long. Why was she hiding from him? She must have felt his anger, and chances were that she knew why. He'd finally decided, after many hours of simmering in anger, that he really didn't want to kill Hermione. She was his love, his mate, and the mother of his child. Sirius Black though, he still was on his list to die a very painful death .No man would touch his woman and live to brag about it.

He thought back to the Death Eaters meeting earlier that night, and the orders that had been given…

Voldemort had stood in the middle of the circle, dressed in a blood red robe. The Death Eaters knew what the color choice of his robe meant: someone would be dying soon. Most of them stood still, not daring to move. A few shifted slightly with nervousness. It was never a good sign when their leader stood there glaring around the circle.

"One of my faithful servants has brought me some unwanted news." The Dark Lord turned towards where he knew Severus Snape was standing, or trembling in his place. He walked over to Snape and stood in front of him. They all knew that someone would soon be at the end of a Cruciatus Curse. "Lucky for him, it is more than what the rest of you sluggards have found for me." With that, The Dark Lord waved his hand, and every other Death Eater, besides Snape, fell to the floor in agony. He held the curse until the room echoed with the moans and screams of his followers. "Let this be a lesson to you who are waiting for others to do the hard work. Come Severus, sit by me tonight in honor of your valiant service."

Snape followed his Master, and waited to sit until Lord Voldemort had sat upon his throne. "You may rise and come forward. " He waited to speak until all of his Death Eaters were gathered around him. "Hermione has been found." The gasps of surprise were heard along with a few cheers. "Unfortunately, she was found with one of our enemies, Sirius Black, a member of The Order." Cries of "What a Tosspot" and "He's a Bastard" were flung around the room.

"Yes, my followers, I feel the same way. He has dared touch something that belongs to me. So, from this time forward all of our efforts will be in apprehending this man." He said loudly. "He will be brought here to me, Alive! Do I make myself clear? Anyone that thinks to kill him will suffer the same fate. I wish to show him what happens when he defiles my woman." The Dark Lord rose from his throne. "Now, go make yourselves worthwhile to me and find him." He walked through the circle and out of the room. The Death Eaters scattered as soon as they saw their Master leave.

Now Tom sat, wondering how long it would take until Sirius Black would be found. He would torture the man until he described the nature of his relationship with Hermione, and then continue torturing him until her shared where they were hiding her. He would not be kept from his woman and his child any longer. It had been way too long since he had held his beautiful Hermione in his arms. It still made him ill to think of how she had looked the last time he had seen her. The look of horror she had, when Dumbledore had place the time turner around her neck. Then of course she had begged the Dumbledore not to harm their child. Then the pleading way she had looked to him to save her. He had been helpless and had blamed Dumbledore ever since. He looked out the window and noticed the sun was starting to rise. He hadn't slept all night as he had been trying to contact Hermione. Tom rose from his throne, staggered to his bedroom, where he promptly dropped onto his bed and fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The banging on the door made Hermione jump out of bed. Quickly opening the door she stared at a frantic James Potter. "It's time Hermione, Lily says its time." She tried to clear her head enough to understand what he was talking about.

"The baby is on his way? Let me grab my robe." James ran his hand through his typical unruly hair. He tried not to notice the short pajama set Hermione wore that hugged her behind. Now was not the time and he ran back to Lily. He heard Hermione coming up right behind him.

Lily lay on their bed screaming in pain. "Hermione what do I do now? This is so painful. Why didn't you tell me it hurt this much?" Lily crumpled over in pain hugging her belly.

"Have you called Madam Pomfrey? She needs to be here and I'm sure that she is still at Hogwarts for the summer." James looked around in confusion, trying to decide what to do and how to do it. "Here" Hermione said. She took his hand and sat him down on the bed next to Lily. "I will go floo call her myself and you stay here and try to help Lily start focusing and slowing down her breathing."

Hermione ran down the stairs, throwing floo powder in the fireplace, "Madam Pomfrey, Hospital Wing, Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey? Madame Pomfrey? " Hermione yelled as loud as she could.

"Yes, this is Madam Pomfrey, who is this? How can I help you?" a much younger Poppy Pomfrey stuck her head through. This made Hermione jump back in surprise looking at Poppy.

"Yes, I am a friend of James and Lily Potter." Hermione said. "She is in labor and ready to have Ha-, ready to have her baby. Please come quickly to Godrics Hollow." Hermione couldn't believe that she almost said Harry's name. It was hard keeping everything straight with her journey through so many times.

"Well then, please step aside, I will be coming through." Hermione shuffled backwards to allow Madam Pomfrey to come through to the Potters carrying a large bag. "Where is she young lady?"

"Right this way, up the stairs, please." Hermione ran up the stairs with the healer right behind. Opening the Potter's door, they saw Lily leaning back against James, with tears rolling down her face. The moans coming from Lily were even more pitiful sounding.

"Please Poppy, get this baby out now. I don't have much strength left." Lily said with an over-dramatic flair. Hermione wondered if this is what she sounded like when she gave birth to Thomas.

"Oh posh, child. You will have this child and do it as the strong witch that you are. You are not the first woman to give birth and you won't be the last." Poppy dropped her bag and started examining Lily. Hermione tried not to laugh at Poppy's tone. It was just like her to be straight forward and to the point.

"Hermione, will you go and get Sirius and Remus? They wanted to be here when the baby was born." James looked at Hermione like he would rather be the one to go get them instead. "Ow!" Lily gripped his hands as she was working through another contraction.

Hermione peeked into her bedroom to check on Thomas, who was obliviously sleeping through all of the drama. She smiled as her son cooed happily in his sleep. Thomas rolled over to his side and put his thumb in his mouth. Down the hallway Lily could be heard screaming again. Hermione ran back downstairs and apparated to Sirius's house. "Sirius, Remus, wake up? Lily is having her baby. You need to come back to their house now." Hermione ran through the house until she came to the bedrooms. She knocked on both bedroom doors. "Wake up you two, Lily is having her baby."

One of the doors swung open and Sirius stood there in a pair of boxers and nothing else. He raised his eyebrows and smiled, "This is a nice good morning surprise love." He looked Hermione up and down, noticing her scant pajamas under her open robe. His arms wrapped around her and brought her close to his chest. "Would you like to see what my bed looks like? I just put on clean sheets." He lowered his head and captured her lips before she had time to protest. Once again Hermione found this unscrupulous man hard to resist. Sirius pulled Hermione towards his bed, twirling her around and they both fell down. Hermione looked up at Sirius, "You are so exquisite," he said softly; as he leaned down to kiss her once again. His hands moved down to brush along the sides of her neck and ending up on her breasts. Hermione lost all train of thought as Sirius kissed the hollow of her neck, as his hands were busy doing wonderful things to her breasts.

"Excuse me you two, but didn't you say something about Lily having the baby?" Remus stood leaning against the doorframe with a grin on his face. His words startled Hermione and Sirius who both jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Oh Gods, what am I doing?" Hermione started hitting Sirius, "You made me forget what I was doing here." Sirius grabbed her hands and tried not to laugh. "It's not funny! We need to get back to James and Lily. They need us right now."

"I think that they are perfectly capable of bringing their child into the world." Sirius said. His cocky tone was not lost on Hermione. Trust him to always be thinking of himself. This was a side of Sirius that had always gotten on her nerves before.

"Sirius I'm not joking, we need to get back." Hermione said. "Anyhow, Thomas will be waking up and want to be fed."

"Yes, I was noticing how that might be a problem right now." Sirius looked down at Hermione's front. Looking down, she noticed how her milk had let down because of his explorations, and having not fed her baby yet."

"Oh, come on both of you, now!" Hermione pushed her way past Sirius and Remus.

"You really have a way with women, don't you Sirius?" Remus stood there shaking his head. Sirius walked by his friend slugging him in the arm.

"She's a bossy one isn't she? I like that in a woman." Sirius wagged his eyebrows at his friend. "I also think that they are tigers in the bedroom." He snarled like a tiger. "I would have found out if you hadn't interrupted us."

Remus walked past him, hitting him back. "You are hopeless my friend. You are always thinking with the wrong head." Sirius shrugged his shoulders and grinned, not denying anything.

* * *

Sirius, Remus and Hermione sat quietly in the front room. The only sound was Thomas making his tiny baby noises. Hermione made silly faces at her son, while Sirius stared at Hermione, and Remus stared at Sirius while he stared at Hermione. Several hours had passed and still the baby had not been born. Finally, the sound of a newborn crying filled the subtle house. All three of them looked at each other waiting to hear news about the baby.

Soon, James came down the stairs carrying a small bundle, wrapped up tightly in a yellow blanket. Puffs of black hair poked out of the top. "It's a boy! Meet Harry James Potter." Hermione smiled and cried at the same time. Sirius and Remus clapped James on the back. "He is healthy and strong, and Lily is doing just fine."

Hermione put Thomas down in the nearby cradle and reached for the newborn. James reverently placed him in Hermione's arms. She sat back down and pulled back the blanket to look at the new Potter. There was the already, unruly, black hair that she would someday be continually trying to comb down. The men were cheerfully congratulating the new father. Hermione leaned down and whispered into the baby's ear, "Welcome home Harry! It's so good to see you alive again." She hugged the baby close, and felt the tears falling freely on her face. "Now, I need to work on keeping everyone alive."

* * *

Yes, The Chosen One is now born! I hope that you liked this chapter! Please leave me some love with your reviews! This may be the last chapter to post here at . With their new policy of no M stories, like this one, it may be taken down soon. I will continue posting it here until I am told otherwise, but I am also posting it at AFF. So don't leave me yet! This train is nowhere near the end of the line!


	44. Chapter 44: Love'm and Leave'm

**Here is a a present to all of you that read, reviewed and put alerts on the story. This chapter came so fast! Thanks to my reviewers: Deirdre, Zelma Kallas, AMUTOforever350, Sapphire Dreamer26, Susan Drakian, Kida Riddle and hateme101! It meant a lot that you took the time to review. It would mean a lot to get up to 500 reviews sooner, rather than later! Hope you enjoy what this chapter has to offer!****  
**

**Chapter 44:Love'm and Leave'm **

The Potter house was much noisier now that there were two babies residing there. There were always babies to be fed and diapers to be changed. The week since Harry had been born had gone quickly, but had also made Hermione very stressed. She had invited Sirius, and Remus over for dinner. She wanted to have a talk with all of the Marauders, minus the rat, Wormtail. She was hoping to somehow relay the message of truly how in danger all of them were. Hermione had made sure that Sirius was at the Potters every day, all day long. She knew that Sirius would be targeted. From her Hogwarts days with Tom, once someone was identified as an enemy, their days were numbered. She didn't want Sirius's death to be on her shoulders. At the same time, she knew that she was probably sending Sirius the wrong message. To him, she knew he was excited that she was, "Finally coming around to my charms"; his words spoken last night. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't minding having him around as much. Sirius had such a seductive nature, and she was having a hard time brushing off his advances. The "thing" that had happened between them, the day that Harry was born, had not been the last. With as much time as Sirius and Hermione had been spending together, they had found themselves together, alone, in Hermione's bedroom several times. Much to Sirius's chagrin nothing had gone farther than heavy duty snogging, not that he hadn't tried.

Hermione sat in the rocking chair as she fed Thomas. More and more he was looking like his father with his dark hair and blue eyes. He was a beautiful child that brought her joy, but also sorrows. She knew that if Dumbledore hadn't messed with their lives, things would have turned out differently. There would have been a way, now she wasn't so sure.

"Oh sweet Thomas, this wasn't the way it was supposed to be. But I will do everything in my power to keep you protected from your father. "

The baby looked up at her with his big eyes as he suckled his mother's breast. "I will give my life if I must, but you will not grow up under his influence. " Thomas quit eating to look up and smile at his Mum.

Hermione still planned on hunting down Tom. It was a confrontation that she wasn't sure what kind of end it would have, but it needed to be done. She was also hoping that there was still some good left in him. If she could find something within him, worth fighting for, she would. From what Order reports said, it was already a lost cause, but she had to at least try.

"Is there any there for me?" Sirius said as he leaned against the wall watching Hermione feed Thomas. Hermione quickly grabbed a blanket and covered herself. "Now why did you go and do that? I was enjoying the view."

Hermione could feel the blush creeping across her face. "You are incorrigible!" She buttoned up her shirt and started burping the baby. Sirius came over to play with Thomas's hair. He looked down at Hermione and gave her one of his killer smiles. Bending down he kissed her until she was breathless.

"That's in advance for a home cooked meal." Sirius said. Then he bent down again to brush her lips one more time."That's to thank you for the extra kisses that you will be giving me later tonight." Then he winked at her.

Hermione felt the rush that you only get when you experience new feelings for someone. No matter how hard she had tried the past few months, she couldn't deny that her feelings had changed towards Sirius. To be fair to her, Tom and Thomas, she was trying to keep things in check; but every time Sirius looked at her, winked at her or pressed his lips so deliciously against hers, she fell a little deeper. It almost seemed unreal to have two handsome men fall for her. Before, all she had ever had was her experience with Viktor Krum in fourth year and her disastrous relationship with Ron. It made her feel kind of giddy knowing that deep down inside she had always had that something that could attract men to her. Her books and marks had always been the most important to her while in school. Then helping Harry hunt thehorcruxes had taken over her life.

"What are you thinking about beautiful? You look so deep in thought." Sirius came over and lifted Thomas out of her arms. Then he pulled her up next, to squeeze her to him with his empty arm. He started dancing around the room with Hermione and baby Thomas. The baby started gurgling and making such cute noises, Lily and James came in to see what was going on. Hermione looked over to see James hugging Lily and whispering in her ear, while they smiled at the cozy scene in front of them.

"It's time to let the men take care of the babies, while we conquer dinner." Lily said with a laugh. Before Hermione was able to move too far, Sirius pulled her in for one more mind-blowing kiss. He even boldly pushed his tongue in her mouth, supporting her head with his free hand.

She in return explored his mouth with its sweet peppermint taste. She couldn't convince him that eating peppermint toads every day wasn't the best thing for him.

"I will see you later darling." Sirius did a mock bow, "Thank you for the dance my love." He then continued dancing around the room with a very happy baby.

* * *

The babies had been put down for the night and the dishes had been cleared and cleaned. The second round of butter beers were being passed around. Lily and James were snuggled together on the couch. Remus was relaxing in the rocking chair, while Hermione and Sirius were cuddled together in the large lounge chair. His arms were wrapped around her as she leaned back onto his chest. Hermione's heart was beating fast as she was trying to decide how to bring up what she needed to talk to them about.

"How bad is it really out there? I know that we are all hiding out in secret kept houses." Hermione spoke, though not to anyone directly. She felt Sirius's arms tighten around her, as he tensed at her question.

"Why are you asking love?" Sirius asked, as he smoothed her hair back from her face.

"I know more than you think I do, about The Order and the war going on right now." Hermione noticed the looks that James, Lily, and Remus were sending her way.

Licking his lips first, then adjusting his glasses, James spoke, "It's bad Hermione, very bad. Have you heard about The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters?" Hermione couldn't speak and only nodded her head. Her stomach started turning into knots. "They go on killing sprees, mainly targeting Muggles. Aurors are finding dead bodies, sometimes littering the streets."

Sirius turned Hermione around in his lap so he could speak to her.

"_ Voldemort is very powerful _now_. We don't know who his supporters are, we don't know who's working for him and who isn't; we know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. We're scared for all of our family, and friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing… The Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, so many Muggles are dying, just like James said. Terror's everywhere… panic… confusion… that's what it's like outside._" Hermione had never seen or heard Sirius act so somber. The grim news only made Hermione realize that she needed now, more than ever, to seek Tom out. The weight of what she needed to do made her heart sick, and the tears fell when she couldn't hold it inside anymore.

Sirius held her tightly to him, it's all right, I won't let anything happen to you or Thomas. " He rocked her and said some comforting words to her.

"Our lives have been threatened, and the life of our child." Lily's pale complexion was even whiter now. "There was a prophecy that said "_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survive..._" Dumbledore thinks that Harry is this child."

Remus spoke next, "_He is destroying everything that we hold most dear_. Sirius is the secret keeper right now for James and Lily, he has been for the past four months."

"_I don't think it is safe having me be the Secret Keeper. Our enemies will suspect me. I want then to change the Secret Keeper to someone, weak and talentless, like Peter._" Sirius said.

Hermione jumped up out of the chair, "Gods no! I don't trust him and neither should any of you." She realized what she had just done, and how what she said would affect the timeline. Be damned the timeline; she wasn't going to see her new friends killed. "I think Peter is one of them, a Death Eater." All of them looked at Hermione like she was crazy.

"Do you notice how he is never around any of you anymore? Have you seen who is spending his time with? Please believe me when I say that he can't be trusted." They had to believe her, but she didn't dare say much more.

No one had any answers to her questions. "Then should we just leave Sirius as our Secret Keeper?" Lily looked around the room seeking an answer.

"No Lily, I'll be your Secret Keeper." The words came out of Hermione's mouth before she had a chance to realize what she was saying. Sirius jumped up then and grabbed Hermione at the shoulders, and shook her.

"It's not safe for you. I can't let you take that risk!" The pleading look in his eyes almost broke her heart. Sirius pulled her to him and hugged her tight. Hermione reached up to put her arms around him. She felt safe there in the circle of his arms.

"You're not safe either Sirius. I just have a feeling that your life is in danger too. We all need to stay here where it's safe and protected." Hermione pleaded with her new friends.

"But we have our duties with The Order. We cant just stay holed up here while we let others go fight them and die." Sirius now showed signs of that crazed look that had been familiar to her during her fifth year. "We are good fighters. Of course we will leave you and Lily here with the babies, but The Order needs The Marauders." Sobs shook Hermione's body as she crumpled to the ground. Sirius dropped to his knees once again to cradle her in his arms. "I promise you that I will keep you safe Hermione."

"Ju-just, promise me, promise me." Hermione shouted, "That Peter won't get close to the babies or be the Secret Keeper." She trembled in Sirius's arms.

"We won't love, I promise." Sirius continued holding her close, rocking her back and forth. He met the eyes of James, Lily and Remus. They knew that when he made a promise, he would keep that promise or die trying.

* * *

Sirius carried Hermione up to her bedroom and gently laid her on the bed. He turned to go, but Hermione latched onto his arm, "Please don't go. I need you right now." Sirius walked to the door and quietly closed it. He went back to her bed and sat down next to her. She pulled him down next to her and draped her arms around his neck. Her lips sought out his and they connected. Eagerly they clashed together, seeking comfort. Sirius's fingers unbuttoned Hermione's blouse and slid it off of her. His hands glided over her round globes of tantalizing flesh. His thumbs drew circles around her stiff nipples. His hands deftly went round back to unhook her bra, then slid it off throwing it somewhere in the room. The raw hunger on his face shot right down to her core. His mouth found one of her raised nipples and he latched on. Her sensitive breasts exploded with fire as he suckled her. How had she forgotten how wonderful it felt to have a man feasting at her breasts? Reaching out she unbuttoned Sirius's shirt and helped him dispose of his shirt. Their lips once again crushed into each other as their bare chests pressed together. The dark hair on his chest tickled her breasts, as his hands found the button on her jeans. Hermione was also busy undoing a button on Sirius's pants, while her hand brushed over his bulging erection. He took a quick intake of breath as she kneaded him through the thick fabric. He grabbed her hands to bring them higher; before he became so aroused he'd come in his pants. Her jeans slid off and his hands swept up to rest on her mound. Her wetness soaked through her knickers, increasing as he slid a finger underneath the edge to run along her soaked slit. He quickly found her clit circling around the raised nub. It all felt so good. Had it been that long since she and Tom last made love? Thoughts of Tom left her mind as Sirius tugged her knickers off. He leaned back on his knees staring down at Hermione in admiration. This is when Hermione truly felt control over a man. Spread out, in all of her glory, in front of a man who desired her. She saw Sirius study her starting at her eyes, running down to her full breasts, along her not firmed up belly, (though he didn't seem to mind) to land on her quim, leaking juices and inviting him in.

Sirius tore off his jeans and boxers to expose his hardened cock. He lifted it up for Hermione's appraisal. She licked her lips in anticipation. He wasn't as big or thick as Tom, but she wasn't sure that she would ever see a man that equaled him in that way. What she saw in front of her would fill her up just fine. Hermione beckoned him forward with her finger. He eagerly leaned forward and placed kisses on the tops of her feet. The trail of kisses next wandered along her calf, over her knee to tickle the inside of her thighs. She held her breath in anticipation of what he would do next. His tongue reached out to lick a line from her thigh to her awaiting center. Swiping along her slit he tasted her flavors for the first time. A look of pure joy lit his face.

"I think I have died and gone to Heaven. You are a glowing angel." Sirius winked at her and went back to pleasuring her. She could feel the build up as he continued licking and nibbling at her core.

"Aw…feels so good Sirius…please don't…aww…don't stop now." Hermione screamed out, not aware or caring that she might wake up Thomas. The waves finally crashed as she orgasmed long and hard. Sirius watched her as she rode out the orgasm. She looked up at him, never having seen him look happier. He leaned down next to give her an aggressive kiss as he covered her body with his. Hermione opened her legs wide and Sirius fell in-between. He once again found her opening and guided his swollen cock inside. They both sighed at the same time as he thrust home.

"I knew it would feel this good." Sirius whispered in her ear. "You are amazing love." He picked up the pace as his reserves were running thin. He couldn't hold back any longer. A few more thrusts and he completed, as she felt his seed fill her womb. They lay together sweating and trying to catch their breath. Sirius leaned forward and kissed Hermione on her forehead. "Thank you love; that was a dream come true making love with you." This tender side of him was very alluring to her. They held each other until Hermione could feel his slow breathing signaling he had fallen asleep. He looked so young and innocent lying next to her. It saddened her to think of the Sirius she once knew. It had not been fair, that so much of his life had been wasted in Azkaban. Hopefully this time things would be different. She brushed the hair out of his eyes and kissed him one more time. Sitting up quietly, she went to use the loo and came back to dress. She took Thomas downstairs to nurse him before she left. After getting him settled back down, she sat at the kitchen table to write Sirius a letter.

"_Dear Sirius,_

_Thank you for last night. That meant the world to me. It was wonderful! I am off on a mission to finally confront Thomas's father. Please don't follow me. I have borrowed Lily's wand and will return it as soon as I can. But, if for some reason I don't return, please watch over Thomas and raise him to be a good man who will follow the light. I hope that Lily and James will also help raise Thomas along with Harry. Don't worry about Peter. There is a reason that he hasn't been around for awhile. I did something that, if I return, I will confess to all of you. But for now, PLEASE don't even think about making him the Secret Keeper. You all are in very grave danger. Stay hidden for now; you don't have to be a hero by being reckless and getting yourself killed. If I return, I want you here. _

_With Love, Hermione _

_p.s. Tell James I borrowed his pensieve to leave some of my memories behind to protect Thomas and all of you and where you are hiding. Sorry I couldn't wake him to ask._

Hermione folded up the letter and sealed it in an envelope, putting Sirius's name on it. She left it leaning up against the toaster. Taking Lily's wand she looked down at her clothes and transfigured them into something more appropriate to be meeting Lord Voldemort and his followers. She needed to wear something that exuded power and confidence. She decided on a Black Widow leather outfit with leather pants, a low- cut top with a zipper that showed off her full breasts, a leather jacket with silver buckles, a long flexi coat skirt, and a sculpted collar with a silver clasp. On her feet she wore a pair of high-heeled black leather boots, good for dueling, if necessary. With the wand she fixed her hair to be full and spiraling all of her curls. The make up she wore was more than she normally wore, but enhanced the look of the outfit.

She observed her work in the hallway mirror, and was shocked at what reflected back. A more beautiful, and less slutty version of Bellatrix Lestrange. Of course that bitch would be there now as one of his followers. She would show her who had power over the Dark Lord. With a grin, and one more trip upstairs to peek in on Sirius and Thomas, she left the house.

* * *

**Probably not what you expected right? But what in this story is there that you have? I had to leave Sirius with a happy memory in case she never comes back. Now please review and let me know what you hope happens. I already have most of the next chapter written. It's time for a show down!**

*****Much of the conversation between Hermione and the Marauders was taken from J.K. Rowling's books, but the tense was changed to present tense, not past as was written in the books. *** **

**To see Hermione's outfit go to this site here.**

** p/STAT-Bag-Black-Widow-Outfit/373548**


	45. Chapter 45: Suspense

**Once again I wish to thank my loyal reviewers and new reviewers. You keep me motivated to get this story written: Thanks to Deirdre, i-am-harrypotter-94, AMUTOforever305, Phoenix, KidaRiddle, WiNtErSuMmErAuTuMSpRiNg, Midnight Mahogany,1percent, and my 2 guest reviewers. It really is the big question isn't it Deirdre? Will it be Tom or Sirius to win Hermione's heart? At this point, only the muse knows and she hasn't let anything out of the bag yet.**

Chapter 45: Suspense

Sirius reached his arms above his head to stretch out his muscles. He grinned thinking of the nice workout he had last night with Hermione. He couldn't believe when she had said he wanted him to stay. He had to make the lady happy right? He looked around the bedroom and couldn't find said lady anywhere. He walked over to the crib and smiled down to a babbling Thomas.

"Good morning mate. Have you seen your Mum?" He picked him up and smelled his bum. "Oi mate, you need a nappy change." Sirius had miraculously gotten quite good at changing Thomas's nappy. Soon he finished the dirty deed.

"Let's head downstairs. I bet that's where your Mum is, guzzling her morning coffee." He walked into the kitchen and it was empty. "That's strange, no one is here." He went into the front room, which he also found empty. The Potters were now making their way downstairs into the kitchen. Lily smirked at Sirius when she noticed him in his half undressed state.

James walked by him and clapped him on the back. "I have two words for you mate, Silencing Charm." He walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee. He sat down to grin at his best friend who was standing there, only in jeans, holding Thomas. "You two up before Hermione? Letting her sleep in from all of that action last night?"

Sirius didn't smile or react at all to James's ribbing. He stood in the center of the kitchen looking confused. James and Lily exchanged looks with one another. "No, she's not there. I can't find her."

"What do you mean you can't find her?' Lily asked. She sat down at the table throwing a blanket over Harry so she could feed him.

"I mean exactly that! I can't find her anywhere in the house." Now Sirius sounded worried. He walked over and placed a now fussy and hungry Thomas in James's arms. "I am going to check out back."

Just then they heard Remus calling from the front room, having just flooed there from his house. "Where are the lot of you this morning?" He walked into the kitchen, "Aw, there are some of you, but where are Sirius and Hermione?"

Sirius walked in from the back yard. "She's not there either."

Taking in Sirius's half dressed state, Remus smiled, "So, you stayed here last night. I wondered…"

"She's missing and I'm really worried. This is not like her at all." He slumped down in a kitchen chair.

Remus walked over to the toaster and picked up an envelope. "Maybe you should read this letter with your name on it, in Hermione's handwriting. It might clear up the mystery. Maybe she just went shopping or something."

"She wouldn't have just gone off for some casual shopping after we talked to her about the dangers last night!" Sirius shouted louder than he had meant to. He snatched the letter from Remus.

He started reading it outloud…

"_Dear Sirius,_

_Thank you for last night. That meant the world to me. It was wonderful!_

_(_He looked up, blushed face, while James and Remus catcalled and whistled. With a smack delivered by Lily to both men, they shut up)

_I am off on a mission to finally confront Thomas's father. Please don't follow me. I have borrowed Lily's wand and will return it as soon as I can. But, if for some reason I don't return, please watch over Thomas and raise him to be a good man who will follow the light. I hope that Lily and James will also help raise Thomas along with Harry. Don't worry about Peter. There is a reason that he hasn't been around for awhile. I did something that, if I return, I will confess to all of you. But for now, PLEASE don't even think about making him the Secret Keeper. You all are in very grave danger. Stay hidden for now; you don't have to be a hero by being reckless and getting yourself killed. If I return, I want you here. _

_With Love, Hermione _

_p.s. Tell James I borrowed his pensieve to leave some of my memories behind to protect Thomas and all of you and where you are hiding. Sorry I couldn't wake him to ask._

The room was silent except for the baby noises. "Damn her! She just went on a suicide mission. If I didn't know better, I would think she was off to confront Voldemort and his Death Eaters!" Sirius threw the letter on the floor.

"What if Thomas's father is a Death Eater?" Lily asked. "That would explain why she has been so afraid of him finding them."

"But why wouldn't she want to stay hidden? Why would she out herself in that kind of danger?" Remus was just as confused as the rest of them.

"I'm going to try and see if I can find her." Sirius stood up and headed towards the stairs.

"Stop Sirius. She asked you not to follow her." Lily walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. "There obviously is a lot that she hasn't told us yet. If she says that you are in danger, then we need to listen to her."

James walked over next holding Hermione's letter, "She asked you to take care of Thomas. If you are killed then you can't do that mate."

Sirius stood listening, looking at their faces. After a few minutes he let go of the railing. "Fine. I won't go…at least for now. But if we haven't heard from her in a few days, I'm not promising you anything." He turned and ran up the stairs, slamming the door of Hermione's bedroom. The sound of a crying baby startled James and Lily as Remus came walking in with a distraught baby Thomas.

"This one appears to be hungry." He held him like he was carrying a parcel.

Lily reached over and took him from Remus. "Come on sweetheart. It seems like I am the only one here that can help you out. Thank goodness I have plenty of milk." She left to go sit down in the front room.

"Do you think we ought to let The Order know what is happening?" Remus always deferred to James when it came to hard matters.

"No Remus. This needs to stay a secret just between us, until we know more about what Hermione's up to." James headed for the kitchen. Turning around he asked Remus, "Care for something to drink?"

"Yes, something preferably stronger than coffee or butter beer. I will go and drag Sirius down to join us. I think he's going to need it." Remus said shaking his head.

* * *

It was a beautiful morning in Wiltshire, England. _A handsome manor house grew out of the bright sunlight at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the lush garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing. _It was all so familiar and bringing back so many memories, good and bad, that had taken place at Malfoy Manor. Hermione really had no idea where Tom and his Death eaters were located right now, but this was as good as guess as anything.

Looking around there were no humans in site, only the white peacocks that always wandered the grounds. There was no use using any techniques of stealth she decided. Either she wanted to be found or she didn't. Hermione found she was still able to access the grounds from years ago. They must still be able to recognize her magical signature. She walked along the path leading to the front doors. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that she would be walking up to the door to see if the Dark Lord was available. Before she made it up the steps of the manor a handsome man, with long white hair, stepped out from the front gardens.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" The man looked her up and down like she was the main course at a feast. Hermione wasn't sure what to say to Lucius Malfoy. This man had always treated her with such disdain; it was hard to decide how to handle his new found interest in her. His eyes kept straying to her front, where her black leather top had pushed up her large breasts, now hurting from not nursing. She was spilling out of her top, and really wanted to unzip it and free her breasts.

Lucius sauntered over to her, with a predatory sneer. He stepped close enough to her where their chests were touching. Looking down at her he smiled, "Why are you wandering around my grounds?" Again his eyes focused on her substantial breasts, lingering there as if to intimidate her.

She reached out and lifted his chin up to meet her eyes. Hermione smiled at him, "I am looking for someone." His hand came up to grip hers and kissed it, then released it. "And who would that lucky someone be?"

"I am looking for the Dark Lord." Her words hung in the air, like ones breath does on a cold winter's morning. Lucius took a step back in surprise. The smile left his face. Hermione could see the figurative wheels spinning in his head. She gave him a sneer, like he had displayed for her many times.

"You're her…the one The Dark Lord has been searching for." He seemed nervous, but excited at his find. "I understand now why he was dismayed at his loss when he couldn't find you."

"Is he here, Lucius?" Her heart was beating so fast now. Her emotions were jumbled up inside of her. What would she see when she was brought in front of him. Would he look so different that he wouldn't be her Tom? What would he do when he saw her? Would he give her a round of Crucio in welcome? She already knew that he would ask about their son first. She always knew that their son would be the most important to Tom. Even Flamina, many years ago, had never hid that part of the plan. The Dark Lord and Thomas were destined to rule the wizarding world together. Though if this were the way Tom wanted to rule, with death and torture, her son would never be part of it.

Lucius, abruptly wrapped his arms around her and said, "Hold on." Before Hermione could say one word, he apparated them away from Malfoy Manor.

Time was ticking away so slowly for everyone sitting around at the Potters. After so much small talk, no one knew what else to do. James and Lily sat on the sofa holding hands and not saying anything. Remus was in his favorite rocking chair reading a book called, _The Dark Arts Outsmarted_. Sirius sat on the floor, with Thomas at his feet, watching the baby play with his fists and trying to suck on his feet. Every once in awhile he would do something that made Sirius grin.

"I can't believe that she left here. What a damn stupid thing to do." Sirius wasn't talking to anyone in general, just making his feelings known once again. "I hope it's not that she couldn't trust me."

"I don't think it had anything to do with you or me, or James or Remus." Lily said. "I think this was something that she needed to do for herself. Couldn't any of you tell that this was eating her up inside?" Baby Harry started crying upstairs. Lily got up to go get him. "Quit making everything about you." She flounced off in a huff.

Sirius glared at Lily as she headed up the stairs and then he looked at James. "Don't be angry at her for saying that Sirius. You know its truth," said James.

"Piss off James." Sirius picked up Thomas and headed out to the back yard.

Remus spoke, "You know he's just worried that she won't pick him in the end. That's why he didn't want Hermione going off to Thomas's father."

James nodded in agreement, "He's always hated to lose. But he better be ready, because chances are high he'll end up on the losing end."

If Lucius hadn't been holding Hermione tightly she would have fallen on her bum. She had never really fancied apparating, especially side-along apparation.

"You can let me go now." Hermione reached up trying to loosen Lucius's grip on her. He had a solid lock hold on her body. She could feel that this man was muscular, and not one to mess with. They looked like quite the pair, both standing there decked out in leather from top to bottom.

"What a shame. I was just starting to enjoy myself." Lucius said in his dry manner. He was so like his father Abraxas, but she had liked him better. He dropped his arms down while Hermione straightened her outfit.

They were now in front of another large manor, one that Hermione had never seen before. Lucius offered his arm to her, "Well, shall we?" Hermione nodded, taking his arm as she was escorted into the snake's den.

* * *

The description of Malfoy Manor is directly from J.K. Rowlings books.

**Sorry for ending here, but this next part will be a chapter unto itself. Is the suspense killing you yet? Please review! **


	46. Chapter 46:Reunited

_**How exciting to be at over 400 reviews! My reviewers' rock! Thanks goes to phoenicks,**__**Zelma Kallas**__**,**__**yo soy el amor aka i am love**__**,**__**HelloIamGracie**__**, AMUTOforever305,**__**Macavity'sGirl722**__**,**__**i-am-harrypotter-94**__**,**__**Susan Drakian**__**,pandas9, **__**Draco's Slytherin Princess.x**__**,kidariddle, theednamo, Sportypoodle, The Last Leaf, ebs12, Loveypudj23, and all of the guest reviewers.**_** The time has arrived for Hermione and Tom to meet again face to face. Sorry for making you wait, but I didn't want to rush writing this chapter. I wanted to get it right. I re-wrote it two times until I liked what was there. Thanks for your understanding. As always, let me know what you think when you're done reading. **

* * *

Chapter 46: Reunited

Hermione gripped Lucius's arm, as it felt like a herd of Hippogriffs were dancing in her stomach. The mansion was dark, but tastefully decorated. Opening a large door at the end of an expansive hallway, they started to descend below. The only sounds that could be heard were Hermione's breathing and a small cough from Lucius.

"Breathe my dear. It wouldn't be fitting to arrive passed out in my arms." Lucius glanced over giving her one of his thin-lipped grins. "I can assure you that he will be ecstatic at your visit."

Hermione wasn't sure that ecstatic was quite the word she would use at Tom's reaction. She knew what she had felt the other day, and that feeling was anger. She hoped that Tom would be swept away with her costume, in addition to her bravery of seeking him out.

"I thought I should let you know, we all are gathering for a meeting this morning." The classic sneer was displayed on his face as he delivered the news to Hermione.

"Who are we Lucius?" Hermione asked coyly.

"Come, come, my dear. You know the "we" I am referring to. You are one of us…his Death Eaters; but only his inner circle." His straight face showed no emotion, as he let her know that he knew about her past. Hermione wondered how much the current Death Eaters truly knew about her. At least she felt on even footing, as she knew about all of them. The only thing in question was Tom. How did he look now? What would his reaction be at seeing her? Would he punish her?

"You are tensing up again. " Lucius stopped walking and dropped Hermione's arm. "You do realize that the entire army has been looking for you the past two months, right? He realized you were still alive the night his son was born."

This news not only horrified, but also excited her. It confirmed that their connection was still very much alive. No wonder he had been so angry with her if he had been looking for her this whole time.

Lucius reached out twisting one of her curls around his fingers. "Only the inner circle knows of your past with The Dark Lord," he said. Hermione searched his eyes for any hidden meaning behind his words. Seeing none there, she batted away his hand. He gave a chortle and continued walking down the dim hallway. She followed him trying to remember not to hyperventilate.

* * *

"Sirius, I don't think that she wanted us to look at her memories." Remus said.

"But what if they give us some clues on where she has gone?" Sirius was having a hard time controlling his emotions. "I just want to at least try. You don't have to see them. Then at least if she is angry about it, she will only be irritated at me."

Remus gave a huge sigh. Sirius had been hard to handle ever since they realized that Hermione had gone missing. He had been like a caged animal, pacing back and forth, in the Potter's house. They had done almost everything, except actually binding him to a chair, to keep him inside the house.

Remus finally gave up. "You do what you want then, but you have to be the one to deal with Hermione when she finds out what you did." He threw his hands up in the air in defeat and plopped down on the sofa.

Sirius stood there, slightly surprised, that he finally would be able to do what he wanted to. "Fine then, I will be back shortly." He then went to the pensieve and plunged his head in feeling himself fall.

Sirius looked around and the images were blurred and then he, James and Remus came into focus. It was the night that they had found Hermione outside in labor. Then he watched as Thomas was born. Ouch! Who would have known how painful it was to give birth. Glad that he would never have to find out personally. Even in labor Hermione had looked beautiful to him. Scene after scene were the times she had spent with all of them, including her personal times with him. As he watched their last night together, he was glad that Remus hadn't followed him into the pensieve. Though he had enjoyed watching their lovemaking again, he didn't want to share that with the rest of the Marauders. Coming out of the pensieve he was very frustrated. Hermione had left no memories at all that showed what had happened in her past. She had wanted to keep this part of her life secret from whomever she went to find. He must be a Legilimens or she wouldn't have worried about her memories being searched.

"So mate, did you find any clues?" Remus asked coming into the room. Sirius looked at him shaking his head.

"The only memories she left were of all of us; from the time we found her until last night when we…uh…" Remus tried to hold back a grin as he noticed the flush on Sirius's face. "No, there was nothing." The look of defeat on his face was evident. "I'm going out back for awhile." Sirius left without looking at Remus. He was in no mood to talk anymore about Hermione.

* * *

The giant doors loomed in front of them. "I shall go in first," Lucius opened the doors walking into the room. The Dark Lord stopped talking as Lucius walked to him and dropped on his knees. "My Lord, I found someone who wishes to meet with you." The Dark Lord looked towards the open doors with irritation. He hated nothing more, than being interrupted, when he was scolding his minions.

"Who is it?" the words were spoken sharply. Before Lucius had a chance to say a word, Hermione stepped into the room.

"Tom…" as soon as the words left her mouth a gasp escaped the Dark Lord. He staggered backwards a bit, but regained his control quickly.

The whisperings of the Death Eaters could be heard, but all Tom could sense was Hermione, his Hermione, standing in front of him. It wasn't the Hermione that had been taken away from him all of those years ago, but a stronger and bolder woman. Her outfit, tight fitting, and clinging to every curve, made his mouth water. It was hard not to keep staring at her large breasts, shoved into her little, black leather vest.

"Out! Out all of you…now!" Most of the Death Eaters left in a hurry, except for Bellatrix who lingered long enough to sneer at Hermione as she passed by. Hermione in turn glared right back, not backing down an inch.

The huge doors closed with a bang. Hermione stood still, waiting for Tom to come to her. Neither one looked away, only keeping their eyes on each other. Though he looked older, he was still very handsome, and now a man. The boy was gone, and gray hair was scattered throughout his thick head of hair. His chest was broader, and he was slightly taller than she remembered.

He walked up and stood close to Hermione. Reaching out, he lifted up a handful of curls and brushed them against his face. "I have missed falling asleep with your curls in my face." She smiled at him thinking about their past nights together. His hand grabbed the back of her hair, and roughly pulled her against his chest. Tilting her head up, his lips came crashing down onto hers. Hermione felt like she was falling onto a soft, comfortable mattress. This felt good. This felt right. She linked her hands behind Tom's neck. Their kiss deepened, neither one wanting to come up for air.

"You still look the same." Tom said breaking their kiss. "You are more beautiful than I remember."

Hermione felt herself blush as he continued to peruse her figure up and down. Her emotions were running wild. How could she be feeling so strongly for this man? She knew the answer before she had even finished her thought. So many questions had been answered in a few minutes time. Yes, he still was handsome. Yes, she still was very attracted to him. There was no question that Tom was very attracted to her. It also appeared that his anger towards her had dissipated. The bigger questions were still floating around in her mind. Could she trust him enough to bring her son here? Was it safe to have him around the current crop of Death Eaters? Would she be able to shift his focus away from the Potters? How much influence did she truly still have with this man? She avoided looking at him as she debated about what to say next to him. It didn't matter, because the next question knocked her back into reality.

"Where is my son Hermione? I want to see him. I want to hold him." He lifted her chin up to look into her eyes. She stared blankly back at him.

"I don't know Tom. I do know that he's safe."

"What do you mean you don't know where he is?" Now the anger she was so used to rose to the surface. Grabbing her face he looked deeply into her eyes, while she felt him invading her mind. He wasn't being gentle as he searched furiously for any clue to the whereabouts of his son.

"Did they Obliviate you?" he asked as he pulled from her mind.

"I don't know Tom." Her body trembled, as her mind pounded with the aftereffects of his desperate search. She truly didn't remember where she had left her son. "I don't remember where I had him or anything after that." She did remember how he looked. She felt in her pants pocket and pulled something out. In her hand she held a picture of baby Thomas. She held the picture up to Tom. He snatched the moving picture out of her hand. The baby in the picture squirmed around as he tried to eat his own fist. His shock of dark hair stood straight up in the air. The baby in the picture turned towards the picture taker, then he stared with wide-eyes and grinned. Tom was fascinated, and didn't say a word. He kept watching the baby as he squirmed in the picture, eating his fist and then grinning at the camera. He glanced over at Hermione. It looked like he had somewhat of a smile on his face.

"He looks like me." Tom said as he continued looking at the picture of his son. "What did you name him?" He studied Hermione's face hoping for an answer.

"That I do remember. I named his Thomas." She couldn't help but smile at Tom and the look of surprise that was on his face.

"You named him after me?"

"Of course I did. He is your son of course. " Hermione put her arms around Tom's waist. "I had always planned on doing that."

"I'm not sure I approve of you naming him that. It was my Muggle father's name." His face instantly changed as he if he remembered suddenly who he was now. The frown and look of displeasure irritated Hermione.

"Well I really couldn't name him Voldemort Jr. or The Mini-Dark Lord, now could I?" Tom clenched his teeth and Hermione stepped back, fearing he was going to strike her because of her insolence.

Backing down, he conceded, "No, neither name would be appropriate…for now." He said in a serious tone. "You must bring him to me."

"No!" this one strong word hitting Tom, as if she were striking him on the face.

"What do you mean No? He is my son and I have every right to see him." Tom's face was now turning more red and fierce.

"I will not bring him here, to a Death Eaters lair. We can meet somewhere else, once I remember where he is." It felt strange not to have a clue where she had left her son. It was right there on the surface, but she couldn't quite reach it.

"We will arrange someplace away from here. I promise Hermione he will not be hurt." Tom was almost pleading, which he never did. "I want us to be together again, you, me and…T-Thomas." The baby's name slowly trickled off his lips, as if it really didn't want to come out.

Hermione looked at Tom searching to see if he was sincere. This

is what she had always hoped for. But what if it was all a trick just to get a hold of the baby?

"I will let you know when we can meet. This is all very confusing to me." She flung herself at him one more time, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her lips kissed his, as if wanting to make up for lost time. She heard Tom groan, as she pressed herself against him feeling what she was doing to him. This was the power she loved to hold over him. She knew he wanted her, and she wanted him in return. Tom walked backwards towards a large chair, still holding and kissing Hermione. In a blur of a few seconds, Hermione disappeared from his arms, where he now was only holding thin air.

"NO!" he roared, "Not again!" Tom shook his fists up above his head. He dropped into the chair massaging his aching head. He would find her, and bring her and Thomas back, and never let them go again.

* * *

The portkey dumped Hermione into the middle of the Potter's living room. She looked around, feeling dizzy like she always did after traveling by portkey. A shocked Remus, Sirius, Lily, and James, stared at Hermione who had landed unceremoniously on her bottom.

"What just happened?" Hermione asked bewildered looking around. She knew that once again, Tom would be furious at her disappearance.

Sirius stood, reaching his hand out to help her up. "Come to the pensieve and you'll find all of your answers."

* * *

**There will be more to come. It will not be tomorrow, but within the next few weeks. Now please review and tell me what you thought of their reunion. You didn't think I was going to end the story with this chapter, did you? I hate fanfics that resolve too is so much more to come!**


	47. Chapter 47: Confusion

Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay, but I was struck with terrible writer's block. I knew you were anxious for another chapter, but I wanted to give you something good to read.

* * *

Chapter 47: Confusion

Hermione looked at Sirius, truly hoping that he would help her find some answers.

"What just happened back there?"

Sirius had a hard time concentrating as he stared at her in the very provocative outfit. He knew what was underneath, and he couldn't help but be turned on by the way Hermione's breasts were spilling out of the vest.

Hermione reached out and grabbed Sirius's chin, "Look up here; now you seem to have some answers for me. I trust you to clear some things up for me. I'm sure that there is a reason I did what I did. "

"They're all right here love." Sirius pointed to the pensieve. "Everything you want to know, you left here to keep safe."

Hermione was confused, but nonetheless plunged her head into the pensieve. There she viewed herself, as she stood in front of the bedroom mirror. As she looked at herself, she listened as she talked while getting ready. "What if this doesn't work? I'm not even sure what he'll do to me when I get there." Her pensieve self fussed with her hair and then pulling down on the vest and twisting and turning to view her backside. "There has to be a way to protect my son, the Potters, Remus and especially Sirius. No one can know where I have been hiding the past few months."

Hermione laughed as she viewed the continual fussing she saw she had done over her appearance. She hadn't realized how nervous she had been. As she continued to watch her pensive self put in an earring, she held the other one in her hand. "I hope that this works. I've never done a Portus spell quite like this. I will set it to bring me back here in 3 hours time, just in case I'm in trouble and being tortured or something fun like that. I can't always count on apparating out on my own." She had gone over to baby Thomas, "I love you so much son. I want to come back to you. Please understand if I don't, I was only trying to protect you." She stroked his curly, brown locks and rubbed his plump cheeks. Hermione smiled as she saw the intense love that showed on her own face. She knew how much she loved her baby, but hadn't truly realized how passionate she was about sheltering Thomas from evil, Lord Voldemort included.

The pensieve Hermione looked down at the earring she held, "I'll be brought back here to the Potters living room." Drawing her wand, she cast, "Portus" on the earring, and put it in her ear, smiling at her own genius.

"Now for the matter of protecting my friends and saving Sirius's life." Hermione watched as she had taken memory after memory and dropped them into the pensieve. "There is enough memories there to know what I'm doing, without giving anything away that will bring grief and destruction onto the occupants of this house."

Hermione seemed taken aback at her own actions, "I was as bad as a bat flying without the power of echolocation!"

As she came out of the pensieve's power, she turned to Sirius who couldn't quit staring at her. "Well apparently it worked because you are here." He wasn't smiling at her. She could tell that Sirius wasn't happy about what had happened. She wasn't sure if it had to do with what she had done or with how she was acting now. "So, did you accomplish what you needed to?" He looked sad as he watched her.

She wasn't sure how to answer him, "I did, but I was pulled back before I…"

"Before your port key brought you back." They stood gazing at each other. The silence had turned into an ugly, uncomfortable thing. Both wanted to say what was on their mind, but scared to let the words pass their lips.

"Did you find him? Were you able to talk to Thomas's father?" Hermione could see the dejection in Sirius, as he already knew what she would say.

"Yes, I found him. He wants to meet Thomas." Sirius seemed angry by this news.

"I thought that you were scared of him? Isn't that why you ran away?" Sirius's eyebrows scrunched together and his jaw clenched waiting for her to answer him. Hermione struggled with how she could explain all of this without giving away the identity of Thomas's father. "Did he do something to change your mind?"

Hermione looked down at her hands as she fiddled with her bracelet. Yes, he had done something, and it was something that had felt really good. His kiss had burned into her soul making her realize how much she still loved Tom. "Sirius, I haven't seen him in a long time. He wants us to come back with him." A look of defeat played on Sirius's face as he listened to Hermione's explanation. She had never wanted to hurt this man. Hermione looked down at her hands as she fiddled with her bracelet. She ached inside knowing she would end up hurting Sirius; also she knew that she needed to protect him. It seemed like regardless of what she ended up doing someone would be hurt. The main person she had to protect was Thomas. Her own heart might have to break in the process.

"Are you sure it's safe?" He reached out to take her hands in his, his fingers lazily rubbing the inside of her wrists. Hermione once again couldn't look at him because honestly she wasn't sure. Her heart and her head felt at war with the other. Looking in Tom's eyes had been Heaven for her. She could see that even though many years had gone by for him, he still cared deeply for her and wanted her. There was no denying how her heart felt. She was still in love with her Tom. She didn't want the Dark Lord. She knew that there was still a slim chance of her persuading Tom not to follow the path that would lead to the Potters being killed.

"I'm not sure about anything." Hermione could feel her vulnerability bubbling up to the surface. Sirius reached out and pulled Hermione to him. She knew that she shouldn't let this man comfort her, but she felt weak. Being held in the safety of his arms felt good while she laid her head against his chest. She tried to reason in her mind that this was very similar to when Harry had used to hold and comfort her. The main difference though, is that she had never slept with Harry. This man wanted more from her and she didn't want to lead him on. For now she was exhausted and needed to go feed her son and then take a nap. Maybe some answers would come when she was more rested.

* * *

The Dark Lord lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. The events of the day still played in his mind. He still couldn't believe that Hermione had walked through his doors looking exactly like she had all of those years ago. The most surprising thing was that he still had so many deep feelings for this woman. He had convinced himself through the years, that he didn't need her or any woman. That he didn't need or want any entanglements like the one that had happened that last year at Hogwarts. But, the moment he had seen her beautiful face, dark thick locks and her voluptuous body, his vows of no attachments to Hermione had flown out the window. The magnetic pull to her had been undeniable. All he wanted to do was kiss her and make Hermione his once more. Then she was ripped away from him again. His whole body tensed as he remembered holding her one-second and having empty arms the next. How could this have happened again? He was now more determined than ever to find where she was hiding. Seeing the picture of his son had also stirred something inside of him. He had wondered through the years whether or not his child was alive. To see that he had survived, brought up so many unknown feelings within him.

A knock at the door startled his thoughts. He left his bed yanking the door open and it banged against the wall. Lucius Malfoy stood in a timid fashion on the other side.

"What is so important that you are disturbing me now?" He glared at his servant, noticing Malfoy trying to stand tall and look directly at him. "Well?" The impatience in his voice startled Lucius, who tried not to move, which made the Dark Lord smirk at his nervousness. He didn't feel like being patient at the moment. His life had been turned upside down again with Hermione's return. Just as it had when she had disappeared all of those years ago. It had felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest. His reason for living was gone, and his motivations for existing had taken a drastic, and gruesome turn. Now those feelings, which he had put deep inside of himself, had re-surfaced the second Hermione had walked through the door in her tight fitting leather ensemble, with her substantial breasts protruding into his line of vision. She had come to fight, and hadn't been playing fair at all. Hermione knew what his weaknesses were.

Lucius clearing his throat brought him back into the moment. Tom knew he trusted this Malfoy, just as he had thoroughly trusted his father.

"My Lord, we have some clues leading to where we think Hermione is in hiding."

The Dark Lord turned sharply to focus on Malfoy, "Where is she?"

"We have reasons to believe that she is staying at the home of James and Lily Potter." Malfoy looked down at the floor, as his master stayed silent.

Of course it would have to be the Potters, and their son from the crazy Seer's prophecy! Some of the highest-ranking members of Dumbledore's damn order! He felt his earlier headache returning. "Then we go and bring her back! What is the delay?" It only made his angrier wondering why his Death Eaters hadn't already accomplished what should be an easy task. It made him feel good to see Lucius starting to cower in his presence at his rising anger.

"There is one slight problem, my Lord…their home is being protected by a Fidelius Charm. We also have not been able to conclude who their Secret Keeper is." Malfoy's voice dropped off near the end of the sentence.

"One more barrier keeping me from Hermione and my son!" Now the Dark Lord felt like hurting everything within his reach. If Malfoy hadn't been a high-ranking member of his Death Eaters, he might have reached out and strangled him. "Why are you still standing here?" His angry outburst once again alarmed Lucius.

"My Lord, we spotted Hermione and Lily Evans yesterday in Diagon Alley. They unfortunately spotted us first, and…as we chased them, they quickly apparated away." The Dark Lord saw Malfoy flinch as he finished his story.

"That doesn't mean that they're living with the Potters." He hesitated as he thought about their next move. "You will assemble the Death Eaters and search, until you find someone, shall we say, willing, to spy on The Order of the Phoenix. If you can't find someone, you will bring an unwilling member here in order to give us the information that we need."

"Yes, my Lord, right away." Lucius clicked his boots together before he turned and rushed down the hallway.

The Dark Lord glared at Malfoy as he made his fast retreat from him. He wouldn't rest or suspend his anger until Hermione and baby Thomas were home with him, where they belonged. By the Gods, the long foretold prophecy of he and his son reigning over the Wizarding World would be fulfilled!

* * *

Hermione and Lily had tried to laugh when they had escaped the Death Eaters grasp. The look on Lucius Malfoy's face when he realized they were escaping was priceless. They had to make light of what had happened. It had been way too close of a call with them almost being captured. They had been thankful they hadn't had the babies with them. It would have made escaping even harder, or impossible. If it had just been her out on her own, Hermione would have willingly gone back with the Death Eaters to Tom. With Lily being by her side, she knew she couldn't take the chance of them being captured. Hermione also knew that Tom would have every Death Eater on the look out for her and the baby. She was thankful for the Fidelius Charm on the Potter's house. Right now Sirius was the Secret Keeper and she hoped to keep it that way. Hermione had been successful at alienating Peter from the rest of the Marauders. But she wasn't entirely sure that would stop the Potters being murdered by Tom.

It was quiet now in the house. She sat in the darkened living room trying to plot out her future. What should she do? How could she pull off saving the Potters and maybe winning over Tom to her ideas? She had spent only a few minutes with him. Hermione wasn't sure if she could still persuade him like she'd been able to before. As she sat lost in her problems, she felt a hand trail lightly across her neck and down her arm. Sirius circled around the couch and sat down beside her. His touch had created shivers through out her body.

"You seem far away. Penny for your thoughts?" Sirius smiled at her as he swung his arm around Hermione's shoulder, his fingers once again stroking her arm softly.

Hermione's heart skipped wildly with him sitting so close. Why was she still feeling so confused when it came to this man? Hadn't she decided moments ago that she still loved Tom? Could she really be in love with more than one person at the same time? She sighed, feeling the weariness taking over her body. As she turned her head to look at Sirius, he had also turned. Their lips met and they melded into each other. Gods she felt so weak. What the blazes was she doing? Her feeble attempt at trying to control her actions flew out the window when Sirius moved his free hand up her stomach to grasp onto her breast. She moaned, as his fingers started caressing her, and she felt her nipple harden at his touch. Sirius lay down, pulling Hermione on top of him. She felt his hard erection pressing into her center. All clear thoughts left her mind, as his hands gradually slid her dress up around her waist. His deft hands curled under her knickers and pulled them off in one fluid motion. Next, she felt his fingers swirling through her curls surrounding her center. Back and forth his fingers moved, circling her swelling clit. They then descended lower to enter her very wet opening. Thrusting in and up, Hermione moved to the rhythm his fingers were creating. Once again his magic fingers circled up and around, then down to enter her once again. Her breathing became ragged as she felt her body being lifted higher and higher. Whoever said being finger-fucked wasn't as good as the real thing, had never been pleasured by Sirius Black. Hermione moaned again, trying to not cry out too loud and wake the whole house.

"It's OK love, let it all out. Enjoy what I'm doing to your body. You are so full of passion. Let me love you." He kissed her neck as he continued to pleasure her lower half. Faster and faster his fingers moved. Hermione couldn't control anything coming out of her mouth, as she felt her body starting to surrender to the orgasm that shook her body. The powerful climax lasted longer than she realized, as she came down from her high. She opened her eyes to a smiling Sirius. "Sleep well my love." He gently kissed her lips one more time, stood, and walked up the stairs to his room.

"Bloody Hell! I'm in real trouble now. But it felt so…" She smiled, as she felt her body quiver once more from her recent orgasm. Hermione pulled her dress down, and hurried up the stairs to slip quietly into Sirius's bedroom.

* * *

Notes from the author: No stone throwing please! The poor woman is still a little confused. OK, did you really think the whole story was going to end quickly just because Tom knows Hermione is alive? I'll never give you a rushed ending just in order to finish this story. There has to be a fair amount of angst, confusion and great sex before this story is done. Please review!


	48. Chapter 48: Early Morning Delight

_Thanks so much to my 4 reviewers for chapter 47: LillianMarie2, emmawatsonswag, Sporty Poodle and IS's Aussie Girl. I wish more of you would review. It would be nice to reach the 500-review mark, considering I have already written a huge novel length story and I'm not done yet. If you are wondering about Hermione's confusion about Sirius and Tom, the review by LillianMarie2 helps answer that question. So grateful for her posting her thoughts. _

* * *

TCAT Chapter 48: Early Morning Delight

Hermione woke feeling very nice and cozy, especially once she realized a pair of strong arms encircled her naked waist. What? Oh Gods! She had forgotten that she had slept with Sirius again. She heard his steady breathing in her ear. Why had she done this again? She had never thought of herself as being weak until this point in her life. She knew that she wasn't crazy, but maybe the two glasses of wine she had consumed after dinner had hindered her judgment. Turning in Sirius's arms she stared at his face. He was such a good-looking man. She did have feelings for him. Maybe it would be best to convince Sirius, Lupin and the Potters, to leave Britain and head to another country far away from The Dark Lord's reaches. Or, it would be best to take Thomas and go back to Tom and try to convince him to leave and live a quiet life with her and baby Thomas. Ha! Who was she kidding? This was Lord Voldemort she was talking about. He loved power more than he would ever love her or the baby. She reached up to run a finger down the stubble on Sirius's handsome face. Smiling she leaned in and kissed his lips. He jerked and pulled Hermione on top of him.

"Good morning to you too beautiful!" He kissed her back, harder and longer. "Are you interested in some morning delight?" He wagged his eyebrows at her.

"Is that a new breakfast recipe I don't know about?" She teased him back acting all innocent.

"It's a recipe to make you feel full and satisfied." He ran his hand across her stomach and down to stroke her mons.

"It's sounds quite yummy, but I have one slight problem."

"Which would be what, my love?"

She brought his hands up to her full breasts. "These are very full and leaking and I need to feed Thomas." Sirius cupped her breasts and his fingers circled around her nipples where the milk was leaking out. He leaned his head down taking a breast in his mouth and suckled on her. A feeling of pure lightening struck her deep into her core. She held his head against her and moaned. "Oh, Merlin! You need to stop and leave some for Thomas."

He looked up and grinned at her. "I've always wondered what breast milk tasted like."

"Well now that you know, would you please go in and get Thomas for me?" She gave him a demure, pouty look.

Jumping out of bed he headed for the door, "Anything for you love."

"Aren't you going to put some clothes on?" Sirius stopped for a minute, shook and head and said, "No, why bother?" he went whistling down the hallway. Hermione hoped that no one else was out there to see Sirius in all of his glory.

A few minutes later, in came Sirius carrying a cooing Thomas. "He needed his nappy changed, so I had to take care of him." He lay Thomas down next to her and then climbed back into bed.

"Good morning son! Are you hungry? You are not the first one at the milk wagon this morning."

Sirius laughed loudly and ran his fingers through Hermione's curly hair. "You look beautiful at any time of the day or night." She looked at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes.

Thomas suckled greedily from his mother. It felt comfortable with Sirius on one side of the baby and Hermione on the other. This is what she had always imagined what it would have been like with Tom. A wave of sadness and guilt swept through her heart. She looked down at her baby, so Sirius wouldn't see the conflict in her face. There were no easy answers at the moment. Regardless of how much she loved either man, Thomas was her number one concern. If she ended up with a broken heart, she could live with that if her son was safe and whole.

* * *

Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy had Peter Pettigrew cornered in Knockturn Alley. The short, cowardly man was trying his best to get away from the two, tall Death Eaters.

"So Pettigrew we need some information." Malfoy drawled in his characteristic voice, wand pointed at Peter. Snape stood on his other side, his wand also drawn and aimed at Peter's head.

The rat-faced man looked from Malfoy to Snape, "What kind of information do you need?" Peter knew when it was in his best interest not to cross someone. He also knew who was in charge of the Death Eaters and didn't want to be on that wizard's bad side.

"Where do the Potter's live?" Malfoy asked slowly as if Pettigrew was slow and needed help understanding the question.

With wide eyes, and quivering chin Peter squeaked out, "I don't know." He ducked his head as if he was expecting a blow to the head.

Lucius and Severus looked at each other like they didn't believe him. Severus dug his wand into Peter's cheek. "They are your friends you worm. Of course you know where they live." Severus's deep baritone voice enunciated each syllable of every word.

"No Snivellus…I mean Severus, I can't remember. You have to believe me." He dropped to the ground covering his head. "I don't want to die, please don't kill me." The loser marauder rocked back and forth crying for his life.

"Enough of this!" Snape yanked Pettigrew by the collar and shoved him up against the wall. Grabbing his wand he cast a spell, "Legilimens," and he sorted through Peter's mind.

"Oh, that hurts! Stop! Stop!"

Snape dropped the screaming man who curled up in to a little ball. He kicked him in the side, "Belt off you daft loon!" Pettigrew crawled away on his hands and knees.

"So, Severus, what did you see?" Malfoy slid his wand into his walking stick.

" Blast! I saw absolutely nothing. His mind was blank as far as the Potter's location." Severus brushed his hands down his suit after his scuffle with Pettigrew.

"This won't sit well with The Dark Lord. Pettigrew was our closest source to The Marauders."

No one knew the real reason for Peter Pettigrew's memory loss; that is except for Hermione Granger.

* * *

"So when do I start feeding Thomas some baby cereal?" Hermione had Thomas sitting on her lap. "He's almost 3 months old." Hermione hadn't been doing her normal reading about everything having to do with raising a baby. This was how she realized that she was not feeling like herself. By now she would have researched everything up one side and down the other.

Lily held baby Harry close to her as she breastfed her son. "He still has a few more months. Right now you are giving him the best nutrition he needs."

Hermione reached out for her morning coffee, blowing on it to cool it down. "I know that I shouldn't be a nervous nilly about raising Thomas, but…"

"I think what's more important right now," Lily brushed her red hair behind her shoulder," …is why Sirius was walking starkers down the hallway, with Thomas, to his room this morning?"

Hermione's coffee spewed out of her mouth all over her blouse and Thomas. The baby started crying and Hermione raced over to the sink to grab a rag. " Shit! You weren't supposed to see that." She didn't look at Lily as she tried to clean up the baby. Lily's question was so unexpected. She wasn't sure that she wanted James and Lily to know that she was still involved with Sirius. If things didn't go well with him, they would probably ask her and the baby to leave. She wasn't sure that she was ready to leave the safety of the Potter's home yet.

After calming Thomas and putting him down for a nap, she came back downstairs to face Lily and her question. Lily sat quietly drinking her tea waiting for an answer.

"Everything that happened last night was truly not planned." Hermione started explaining, looking at Lily, who was listening attentively. "I had a few glasses of wine last night, which I shouldn't have. I don't handle alcohol well; never have and I'll never will." That statement brought a slight grin to Lily's face.

"So did he come to you, or did you go to him?" This question seemed to make a lot of sense to Hermione. She knew what Lily wanted to know. Who wanted this to happen more? Sirius or Hermione?

"Both I would say." Hermione knew she was being vague, but wasn't sure that she wanted to explain how she was the one who had chosen to go up to Sirius's room after their little tryst on the couch. "He found me downstairs and…" She knew that her face was flushed just thinking about what had happened last night on the Potter's couch.

Lily sat quietly waiting for more from her. She raised her eyebrow in inquiry, "And then what?"

Now she felt more shame because of what she had chosen to do. "On the way to my room, I made a detour into Sirius's room and never left. Gods this is embarrassing!"

Lily started laughing and couldn't stop. Hermione looked at her like she was a crazy woman. "Why do you think this is funny? I would think that you would be rather angry about this happening?"

"Why would I be angry? I'm not your Mum, Hermione." Lily pulled out a hankie to wipe her eyes from laughing so hard that she had cried. Hermione grinned, noticing that Harry had gotten his grin from his Mum and not his Dad, James.

"You and Sirius are both adults. What you choose to do together is your own business." She took a sip of her tea. "I just wasn't expecting to see Sirius's fine arse strutting down my hallway at 5:00 in the morning. I got laughing so hard when I went back into my room I woke up James."

"Did you truly tell him what you saw?"

"Of course I did. It's not like I haven't seen that part of Sirius before." This statement drew a shocked look on Hermione's face. "It's not what you think. The Marauders have been known to do many foolish things together." Lily went on, "One of the many crazy things they have done was to go skinny-dipping in the great lake at Hogwarts."

This made Hermione laugh thinking of them all doing something like this. Even her best friends, Harry and Ron, wouldn't have attempted something so brazen as to run around nude on Hogwarts grounds. "Did the headmaster ever find out?"

"Unfortunately for them, he did. But the detention wasn't too terrible. Severus was so angry that they hadn't been punished more." Hermione was surprised that Lily had brought up the name of her former friend. She could see why Snape had hated all of The Marauders; they were always getting away with things that everyone else at Hogwarts couldn't possibly imagine doing.

Acting innocent, she asked Lily, "Who's Severus? An old boyfriend?" She noticed the sadness that played across who friend's face.

"He was one of my old childhood friends. He was also one of James's greatest nemesis." Lily was quiet as she became lost in her own thoughts and memories. "He was sorted into Slytherin, so of course, once I became a Gryffindor, we slowly drifted apart." Hermione hadn't realized how sad Lily had been with the loss of her friend. Now, she could also see why Snape had been in love with Lily and stayed that way through the years. Maybe she still had loved Severus in some ways, even after marrying James.

"The past needs to stay in the past." Lily's eyes betrayed what her heart still felt.

Hermione changed the subject, "Thank you Lily for not being judgmental towards me. I'm very confused right now."

"I'll never judge you Hermione. I can't imagine going through what you have." Lily leaned over to pat Hermione's hand. "Anyhow, Sirius's is a big chap and knew what he would be facing by getting involved with you."

Hermione had not thought of things that way. It slightly lifted the shroud of guilt that had been hanging over her head. "I will try my hardest to not break anyone's heart," especially her own, Hermione thought.

* * *

Surrounded by his Death Eaters in their dark robes and masks, Lord Voldemort spoke in a firm voice. "I will be gone for a few days. I need you to report to your team leaders about your group missions. You are to continue following the Order members that have been assigned to you."

No one stirred as their Master continued speaking, "If anything goes astray in our plans, you will speak immediately to Lucius or Bella." A giggle could be heard from Bella, hidden by her mask, standing next to her Lord and Master. "You are dismissed, all except for you Lucius."

The room emptied and Lucius swept his mask off his face to speak to the Dark Lord. "Yes, my Lord," he dropped to his knees in respect.

"Stand Lucius. I felt that at least one of you should know my destination."

This startled Lucius, "Yes, my Lord and where would that be?"

"Back to Hogwarts to visit the Chamber of Secrets."

* * *

_Don't you love cliffhangers? Please review! Why would Tom be heading back to Hogwarts? I bet that you know what is up next! Also up, Hermione finally confronts Dumbledore! _


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